Huang’s opinion doesn’t seem to have changed much. He is still of the opinion that you don’t have to be a programmer with excellent C++ knowledge to be successful. What engineers need to succeed is to be fast.

“You just have to be a fast engineer. And who can’t be a fast engineer? When my wife talks to me, she’s a fast engineer,” he replies.

“We all have to learn how to cue artificial intelligence, but it’s no different than learning how to cue the people on your team,” he adds.

He says these skills can be vital for young people entering the job market at an opportune time.

“Artificial intelligence is a new industry – that’s why we say there’s a new industrial revolution. In the future, almost all of our computing will be generated,” he said.

Some time ago, Jensen Huang was harshly criticized for statements in which he argued that it should not and does not make sense for young people today to devote time and attention to coding because artificial intelligence will do it for them.

He said this time should be invested in developing expertise in industries such as agriculture, biology, manufacturing and education. He stresses that upskilling can be key to making progress by helping people better understand how and when to use AI programming.

Every one of us has been in toxic environments in both our personal and professional lives. Toxic partners, toxic friends, toxic colleagues, and why not toxic relatives. Toxicity is poison. A poison that slowly kills our mood, our productivity and our desire for anything. Breaking away from this environment and setting boundaries may be the lifeline you need. And although it seems so simple in words, the truth is that it takes a lot of courage and determination to say “END”.

But how and when to say “NO” to things and people that don’t make us happy, but on the contrary – make us feel bad. To those who drink the last drop of energy from us?

Yes, life is not rosy, although some look at it through rose-colored glasses from time to time to make it seem less complicated than it actually is. Every one of us experiences ups and downs. We go through difficult moments, but we also experience many beautiful and happy ones.

And even though finding your dream job and the perfect partner are very outdated clichés that a sober-minded person wouldn’t believe or wait for, that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to find “The One” and be happy.

But is it possible that we love our work but the toxic atmosphere and culture of the workplace makes us feel nervous, anxious, stressed, and unproductive? To have your heart clench as you commute to work and begin to experience constant feelings of depression and anxiety that you carry home? When is it time to burst the toxic work atmosphere bubble before it becomes the norm?

Stay tuned because today we’re going to look at the TOP 5 signs of a toxic work atmosphere and culture and how to deal with them according to career consultant Ellie Bohemond.

Lack of boundaries at work

According to Eli Bohemond, toxic cultures often make it normal and glorify a lack of healthy boundaries, pushing you to prioritize work over everything else. However, this leads to a very serious burnout and severe consequences afterwards. In some companies, employees are often expected to stay after work to finish some tasks or answer emails over the weekend.

People don’t trust each other

In a toxic work environment, the lack of trust between colleagues is palpable. Bohemond gives the example of an organization in which the management team’s offices face the desks of employees, allowing them to monitor each employee’s activities. Or a work environment in which managers are constantly calling people on the team to check in on what they are doing.

The interpersonal relationships between employees

The dynamics between people are lacking in vitality and this is clearly evident from observing interactions in the workplace, says Bohemond. He suggests that one can recognize emotional well-being in the workplace by observing how people interact with each other. Are they exchanging smiles and pleasant conversations as they make their morning coffee, or do most people seem indifferent, eyes glued to their phone screens. Do they share humor and memes on Slack, or do their messages carry an undercurrent of disdain? “The overall atmosphere and body language of people convey the atmosphere of the workplace,” he notes.

There is no support for employee development

According to Bohemond, many people in toxic jobs have to fend for themselves because there is no mentoring or support to help them develop. This particularly affects entry-level employees – who are left alone in such a workplace, leading to demotivation and frustration – as well as employees from marginalized communities, who typically receive very little support to turn their potential into growth opportunities anyway.

No room for mistakes

It’s human to make mistakes, especially when you’re new and inexperienced. However, there are companies where it is strictly forbidden to make mistakes, whether you are a senior or junior employee. In such an environment, people start doing everything they can to avoid being blamed and to get ahead of their colleagues – for example, not sharing work-related information with teammates or passing the blame to colleagues if something goes wrong.

This type of culture can be particularly toxic. A constant sense of superiority and perfection would lead to nothing good except more stressful situations and depressed employees.

Now that you know what the basic signs of a work culture are, it’s time to share with you how to burst that toxic bubble and move forward without more stress and depression.

In broad terms, you’re faced with two possibilities: endure the toxic environment or depart. While it might seem straightforward, the reality is staying may be necessary, at least for a time, for various reasons. Perhaps an immediate departure isn’t feasible due to financial constraints, or alternative opportunities in your field are scarce. Additionally, your current company might provide unique benefits—such as remote work in an industry slow to adopt it, or a significant childcare subsidy essential for your family’s financial stability—that add complexity to the decision-making process.

Bohemond recommends looking inward and asking yourself questions like:

                                                                                How do I react when confronted with toxic behavior?

                                                                                        What role can I play to change the situation?

                                                                                                What is preventing me from leaving?

If you still don’t want to quit because, despite the environment, you like the job and the conditions are good, then take a sabbatical and rest for a while. During this time you can indulge in time with friends and family, walks in nature and do the things that distract and give you pleasure. It’s also a good idea to talk to a psychologist about your condition, it can be very helpful.

Remember that the power lies within and the best is yet to come!

“At Tumba Solutions, we believe in the power of technology and the potential of our people. Our philosophy is rooted in the pursuit of excellence, innovation, and the personal development of our team members. This webinar represents an extension of our ethos, offering our team and the wider developer community valuable insights into making informed investment choices that align with their career aspirations and personal goals”, stated Emo Abadjiev, CEO of Tumba Solutions.

The support of the event is a testament to the company’s dedication to the well-being and success of Tumba team. The company understands that the growth of the company is intrinsically linked to the growth of people. By providing them with opportunities to expand their knowledge and financial acumen, the company is investing in a future where they can achieve their dreams, both professionally and personally.

Are you ready to make an impact? Click here to explore our current job openings and join the Tumba reality today.

The webinar “Tech Wealth: Strategic Investment for Software Developers” is more than just a discussion on financial investment; it’s about empowering software developers to make strategic decisions that will benefit them in the long term. Tumba Solutions is proud to be at the forefront of this initiative, supporting the continuous development and success of the tech community.

Read more:
1. Microsoft Invests €2B in AI Infrastructure in Spain
2. European Commission Investigates TikTok
3. The First Preview of .NET 9 is Available

La inversión de @Microsoft en España se va a cuadruplicar y llegará hasta los 1.950 M€.

Quiero agradecer a su presidente, @BradSmi, su confianza en la economía española y en nuestra hoja de ruta para una transformación digital inclusiva y segura.

Además, hemos analizado las… pic.twitter.com/0PG1tZL08e

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) February 19, 2024

Smith said it was not just about building data centres, but a commitment to help develop the “security, development and digital transformation of the country’s government, businesses and people”.

He added that the tech giant has been investing in Spain for 37 years. In September 2021, the company announced that a new artificial intelligence technology research and development centre would be established in Barcelona. It was then that Alberto Granados, president of Microsoft Spain, said that Microsoft’s investment is proof that Spain has the necessary potential to develop the digital sector.

This is the second major investment Microsoft has made in Europe within a month. Recall that last week the company invested 3 billion euros in the development of the artificial intelligence ecosystem in Germany.

Similar to its plans in Spain, over the next two years Microsoft has pledged to invest the funds in strengthening the AI infrastructure in Germany, building new data centres and training people to develop AI skills.

Major technology companies are increasing their presence in Europe by investing in the development of artificial intelligence, which in turn coincides with the implementation of EU legislation on artificial intelligence.

Read more:
1. European Commission Investigates TikTok
2. Equinix Announces Fully Managed Service for NVIDIA DGX AI Supercomputing
3. Android Releases First Preview of Android 15 for Developers

“I have no plans to adjust the Prime team,” Jamil Ghani said during a visit to the Netherlands for an internal conference.

Amazon cut hundreds of jobs at Prime Video last month, explaining that it was taking those measures to cut costs. At Twitch, 35% of jobs were cut, which is about 500 employees.

Maintaining a streaming platform is expensive, and Twitch still doesn’t make enough.

Last year, the company suffered increasingly large job cuts – 18,000 in January and another 9,000 in March.

“There has been generous support from all team members around the world and many people on the Prime team have returned to Amazon in other roles. The team has been very supportive, including myself,” Jamil Ghani said.

He adds that the company finds it difficult to lay off employees and it is the last thing it wants to resort to, but sometimes circumstances do not allow any other choice.

In the last quarter of last year, the company employed more than 1.5 million people. That’s 1% fewer employees than in the final three months of 2022.

In the Netherlands, Amazon officials said the tech company had about 1,250 employees in August, including at its Dutch headquarters in Amsterdam. Amazon says no jobs have been lost at Prime in the Netherlands.

However, Amazon is not the only major company to cut many jobs recently to save costs. Tech giant Microsoft, for example, laid off 1,900 people within the company’s video game division.

eBay also eliminated about 9% of its jobs, which is about 1,000 employees.

A few weeks before the start of Black History Month, Apple released a new Black Unity Collection 2024 to support organizations in the United States that advocate for the rights of black people and that support them pro bono.

With the Black Unity Collection 2024, the tech giant is celebrating the strength and resilience of black people. Black Unity introduces new means of expression inspired by the incredible spirit and beauty of the black community.

Black History

The first of February marks the beginning of Black History Month, which honors the great contributions of the black community to U.S. history. During the month of February, America celebrates the achievements of African American men and women.

 

Black history brings with it much pain, injustice and cruelty. Years in which black people were slaves, humiliated and subjected to rampant harassment. All those wonderful men, women and children who were blamed and fingered simply because of the small amount or lack of melanin…

The symbols

The blossoming flowers and bright colors in Apple’s collection represent Pan-Africanism and symbolize generations working together to tackle injustice and break down systemic barriers. The Apple Watch Unity Bloom watch face features a beautiful floral design that signifies an ongoing commitment to striving for a more just world.

The surprises don’t end there. The watch has a feature that is triggered when you lift the wrist – the flowers begin to bloom and fill with vibrant hues.

iPhone and iPad owners can share their empathy and support with the new Unity Bloom wallpaper for their Lock Screen, which features an outline of flowers that fill with color when the display is turned on.

Beyond the visible

Many traditions, endless talent, incredibly beautiful art, strength, spirit, energy… Words are not enough to describe how incredibly talented and beautiful black people are! And with the talent and creativity Apple has shown us in this new collection, they have proven once again why they are among the best.

The tech giant said it would lay off hundreds of employees in its voice assistant unit, and eliminate hundreds of positions from the hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit. The augmented reality (AR) team is also affected, with the majority of people in it to be laid off.

The company has come out with the opinion that such extreme actions are necessary and are part of the organizational changes.

“To best position us for these opportunities, throughout the second half of 2023, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, and to align their resources to their biggest product priorities. Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

Alphabet’s employee union said in an X that the layoffs were “unnecessary” and that the company could not “continue to fire colleagues” while making billions.

Google has recently downsized its AR hardware team and opted for collaboration with other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), according to an initial report from 9to5Google. Additionally, there is a shift towards consolidating Google’s hardware engineering efforts into a unified core team, streamlining operations previously spread across Pixel, Fitbit, and Nest.

Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman are confirmed to be departing, as acknowledged by Google to TechCrunch. Notably, James Park played a crucial role in the introduction of the new Pixel Watch series of smartwatches within Google’s hardware portfolio.

In 2019, Google announced the acquisition of Fitbit for $2.1 billion, a process that underwent a two-year regulatory approval before finalizing in 2021. Since then, Google has integrated Fitbit products into its own offerings, exemplified by prompting Fitbit users to transition to Google accounts last year.

Simultaneously, the company made changes in its workforce, including personnel from the Google Assistant team, as reported by Semafor.

This latest company-wide layoff follows a larger workforce reduction of approximately 12,000 roles, or 6% of its employees, in January 2023.

In the GPT Store, users will be able to sell and share custom AI agents that are based on OpenAI’s major language models, OpenAI said in an email to people registered as GPT Builders.

Email sent to GPT Builders // Source: The Verge

Also in the email, users were asked to double-check that what they would be selling and sharing met the requirements, and were reminded to make the status of their GPT files “public” .

OpenAI initially revealed during its November developers conference that it would permit individuals to build AI agents, referred to as GPTs, utilizing its GPT-4 large language model.

This capability is exclusively accessible to ChatGPT Plus and enterprise subscribers, enabling users to develop personalized iterations of ChatGPT-style chatbots. These customized GPTs cover a spectrum of topics, from explaining Gen Z memes to guiding individuals through negotiation processes.

Although OpenAI’s pre-built custom GPTs can be found in the explore tab of ChatGPT Plus, the introduction of the store facilitates users in sharing and potentially monetizing their own GPT creations.

The company said that in the future it would be looking at paying GPT creators based on how much their Al-agents are used in the store. However, OpenAI has not yet disclosed the details.

The store was originally supposed to launch in November, but had to be delayed due to the drama of CEO Sam Altman’s firing.

Every engineering manager is different, as are their roles, responsibilities, and ideas for improving their teams. However, across the spectrum, there are a few common challenges that every manager faces when entering the software industry.

The Biggest Challenges for the Engineering Manager

High SDLC Blockers, and Low Workflow Visibility
Today’s SDLC is driven by the culture of continuous improvement and ongoing iterations. It is an engineering manager’s role to figure out the impediments their devs face, challenges in delivering results, or the processes needing some optimization. A weak SDLC is a silent velocity killer, yet most managers find it challenging to know the ‘what’ and ‘why’ behind it. While talking to 100s of EM, we found that managers do know something in their present process is lagging, and have metrics results as north-stars; they just don’t have the right indicators or approach to move forward. One reason behind the persistent manager conundrum is limited visibility.

Most managers we talked to struggled because their teams were not making enough deliveries, and deemed ‘slow’. Looking at the cycle time metric gave them limited value, however, after centralizing all process indicators in one place, they could see that devs were working outside work hours, and the workload became unendurable. Only when managers got full-fledged visibility into the issue, they could create a plan of action, reconfigure the team’s time and tasks, and earn trust of teammates.

Broken Communication
Alignment issues and context switching between software teams are real, and most engineering managers have largely recognized the persistent issue. And that’s where the second top challenge of an engineering manager lies- to resolve communication debts stemming out of the two.

Engineering managers need to be constantly updated with their dev’s work items. The idea is to take stock of the present team status: what the engineers are doing, their blockers, and how to move forward. That’s why standups were originally invented. But, most standups today are more or less about status updates and rarely end with some constructive feedback, or discussing blockers.

Even after hour-long calls, devs might not have clarity over how to resolve their blockers. Ever happened to know that your devs are frustrated because of work, but couldn’t figure out why? Pining devs for constant updates might alienate them from managers- their best buddies/mentors/support system at work. Ongoingly, it can hurt the team’s focus hours irrevocably, even hurting developer productivity. EMs now need to find a balance between taking status updates, and ‘qualitatively’ resolving dev barriers.

Developer Burnout
When it comes to the developer ecosystem, everything is related and interconnected. Developer burnout has become a common workplace phenomenon, with over 82% of developers going through reversal burnout symptoms. An engineering manager is considered a pillar of support for their devs and is expected to help navigate the crisis with much empathy, and a plan of action to get them back in shape, and spirits.

However, managers cannot be of much help to devs if they don’t know what causes this alienation in the first place. Figuring out the reasons for your dev’s withdrawal, and lacking enthusiasm is a key priority challenge for leaders today. In the same survey above, 77% of developers have accepted that their managers are not aware of what’s happening. The causes could be anything; from overwhelming adhoc requests to dysfunctional work conditions, incident alerts, and debugging outside work hours. Since EMs are already dealing with work visibility challenges, these signs often come too late to them. By then, either their high-performing devs quit, become disengaged, or face a powerful loss in their productivity.

Unsustainable Workload
Workload distribution among members may sound like a direct task, but it’s complicated and hands down, one of the hardest for an engineering manager. In a SmartBrief survey, only 29% of engineering leaders were fairly confident of their workload distribution. The issue rapidly snowballs into frustrated devs if managers have low visibility into the engineering workloads (the big deal about visibility, eh?). Sometimes, the work allotment is done without accounting for geographical barriers, past trends of progress, and existing work share. Your next sprints are destined to go down if devs are not able to clear their previous backlogs owing to overburdening work.

Poor Developer Experience
Devs are good at switching teams, based on their career progress, happiness, or overall satisfaction. However, for EMs, this transition is like a double-edged sword- core hours devoted by devs per project are decreasing, while the training, and recruiting time keeps increasing. And that’s why protecting developer experience by managers becomes vital to the future of a company.

Good DX doesn’t necessarily have to follow Steve Jobs’ come-make-it-your-world approach, so much as it’s about improving a developer’s involvement, and satisfaction with the current workflow. If your current process has long code review periods, workload imbalance, security issues, frequent firefighting, flaky builds, high incident and interview workloads, and devs had to undergo frequent context switching and technical debt; then your life as an engineering manager might take a lot of toils.

Some examples of GPTs that have already been created include “Playtime,” which explains the rules of board games; “Technical Advisor,” which provides step-by-step guides to troubleshooting technology problems; and “The Negotiator,” which helps people improve their negotiation skills.

“We believe the most incredible GPTs will come from builders in the community. Whether you’re an educator, coach, or just someone who loves to build helpful tools, you don’t need to know coding to make one and share your expertise,” OpenAI wrote in an announcement.

Companies have the capability to create and deploy GPTs for internal use, without the need to share them with individuals outside of their organization.

OpenAI has introduced a sneak peek of the upcoming GPT-4 iteration known as GPT-4 Turbo. This new model has many enhanced capabilities.

Another notable enhancement is the inclusion of a 128k context window, which can accommodate the equivalent of 300 pages of text within a single prompt, as per OpenAI’s explanation.

GPT-4 Turbo offers input tokens at a cost three times lower than GPT-4 and output tokens at a price two times lower.

Among the additional features in GPT-4 Turbo highlighted by OpenAI are improved accuracy in function calling, enhanced instruction-following abilities, support for JSON mode, reproducible outputs, and log probabilities for the most probable output tokens.

Later this month, OpenAI will also launch a store for these types of GPTs.