Unique "golden handcuffs" trick makes it difficult for employees to leave AI chip company

(Dan Tri) - Amid the AI ​​fever, Nvidia and Broadcom employees own millions of dollars in assets. But an invisible "handcuff" prevents them from leaving. What is the secret behind this sophisticated employee retention strategy?

"If I quit now, no company can pay me the same salary as now. It would be a huge financial loss," an employee of Nvidia, the giant that dominates the AI ​​chip market, told Business Insider.

He and thousands of his colleagues at semiconductor giants like Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom are living in a paradox of wealth. The AI ​​boom has driven their company stock prices skyrocketing, turning their compensation packages into multimillion-dollar fortunes.

But there is a catch: they cannot leave freely. A sophisticated talent retention strategy, known in Silicon Valley finance circles as “golden handcuffs,” is tightening ever more.

Companies like Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom are using “golden handcuffs” – a familiar but increasingly powerful strategy to retain talent (Photo: Getty).

The Million Dollar Gift and the Price of Freedom

“Golden handcuffs” is a term used in the human resources industry to describe attractive financial benefits packages to retain key employees. In the AI ​​craze, this tool is mainly restricted stock units (RSUs).

In simple terms, employees are promised a certain amount of stock, but the stock will be awarded gradually over a period of time, usually up to four years. Those who stay long enough will receive the full “gift”. Those who leave early will lose hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.

What makes this “handcuff” especially powerful in the AI ​​era is the stock's meteoric growth rate.

Since the start of 2023, Broadcom, Nvidia, and AMD have all outperformed the rest of Big Tech (Google, Amazon, Microsoft). “With the exception of Meta, even the worst-performing AI company (AMD) has outperformed the rest of Big Tech over the past two years,” said Hakeem Shibly, a data analyst at Levels.fyi.

Its power is evident in the numbers. A $488,000 stock package awarded by Nvidia in 2023 has ballooned to more than $2.2 million, according to data from Levels.fyi, a platform that tracks Silicon Valley compensation. A smaller $66,000 package at Broadcom has grown to about $265,000.

Many Nvidia employees joining in 2023 saw their stock awards increase by more than 350%. If they leave now, they could be giving up more than $500,000. At Broadcom, some veteran employees are holding RSUs worth more than $6 million each.

A former Broadcom employee who was fired last year tells a painful story. While his unlocked shares are currently worth about $500,000, if he had stayed with the company, the entire RSU package would now be worth nearly $3 million.

“The golden handcuffs are RSUs,” he said. “Nobody would be foolish enough to resign anymore.”

"Lottery syndrome" and the "semi-retirement" mentality

The rush of wealth creates a special kind of mentality within these companies. One Nvidia employee likens it to “lottery syndrome”—a bewildering but satisfying feeling that they’re unlikely to find another equally lucrative opportunity.

Many people, especially long-time employees, have "made it" to the point of almost entering a state of "semi-retirement." They have accumulated enough assets to live comfortably, and their current job is like a way to maintain that wealth.

“Some people have families, and they think simply: Why leave this job, when it guarantees my kids will never have to take out student loans?” - one Nvidia employee shared.

One Broadcom employee said their RSUs are now worth more than six times their base salary. “Given the recent stock price appreciation, those who hold onto their shares can now look forward to a very comfortable retirement,” the person said.

But the internal culture is starting to show signs of wear and tear. Some Nvidia employees admit that the large difference in RSU value between veteran and new hires is often discussed publicly. There is a perception that veteran managers—whose shares have risen exponentially—are now just “sitting there waiting for the stock to ripen.”

On the other hand, the huge RSU value makes some employees willing to work harder, or ironically, less critical in meetings to protect their "golden rice pot".

Master Strategies of CEOs

Behind the “golden handcuffs” is a carefully calculated business and human resource management strategy. The leaders of Nvidia and Broadcom clearly understand the power of this weapon.

At Nvidia, CEO Jensen Huang once proudly declared that he “made employees rich.” The company noted in its annual sustainability report that “RSUs help drive engagement.”

The clearest evidence: Nvidia's turnover rate has more than halved, from 5.3% in 2023 to just 2.5% in 2025. That's a dream number in a tech industry notorious for job-hopping. Currently, 20% of Nvidia employees have been with the company for more than 10 years, and 40% have been with the company for more than 5 years - an astonishing stability.

Nvidia also uses a “front-loading” model similar to Google and Uber. This means new employees receive a large portion of their stock awards in their first year, similar to a huge “signing bonus.” This helps attract top talent and ties financial rewards to performance. After the first year, if employees perform poorly, they will have a harder time getting new stock packages of similar value.

Similarly, Broadcom reports a global voluntary turnover rate of just 6.2%—well below the industry average. The company claims that stock awards are “an effective long-term retention tool” and that it “continues to grant RSUs to the majority of its employees.” This strategy has been particularly useful for Broadcom after its series of acquisitions, helping it retain key engineers from acquired companies.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is worth $151 billion, and Nvidia's special stock option program helps employees benefit from the $4.5 trillion chipmaker (Photo: Getty).

The dark side of affluence

The "golden handcuffs" strategy is clearly proving to be extremely effective, helping AI chip giants retain their core teams to continuously innovate and launch new generation products such as Nvidia Blackwell or Broadcom's custom AI network chips.

However, from a market and management perspective, this strategy also carries many risks.

First, it can stifle healthy talent mobility. When the most talented engineers are locked into one place, it can limit overall industry innovation, creating a siloed work environment that lacks new perspectives.

Second, it creates a risk of burnout. The AI ​​semiconductor industry is under enormous pressure to constantly compete on performance and output. When employees feel chained to their jobs by multi-million dollar bonuses, they may accept overwork without speaking up.

Finally, and most dangerously, the entire strategy hinges heavily on one factor: stock price. The golden handcuffs only work when they are gold. The stock prices of Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom have skyrocketed on AI hopes, pushing Nvidia’s market capitalization to $4.5 trillion.

But if the market turns volatile, or if the AI ​​craze cools and stock prices fall, the “handcuffs” will lose their appeal. At that point, talented people, accustomed to million-dollar incomes, may “break the handcuffs” and leave en masse.

In the race for dominance in the AI ​​era, talent is not just an asset, it is the foundation of survival. Chip giants understand this. And the “golden handcuffs” are the chains that ensure that foundation is held tight, at least until the race is won.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/doc-chieu-cong-tay-vang-khien-nhan-vien-kho-roi-cong-ty-chip-ai-20251027090832589.htm