golden handcuffs
Lucrative employment shackles
Golden handcuffs are financial incentives designed to keep an employee from leaving a company—stock options that vest over years, deferred bonuses, or retirement benefits that evaporate upon departure.
The metaphor captures the bind: the compensation is attractive, but it chains you to the job.
I'd love to quit, but the golden handcuffs are too tight.
Contracts to purchase shares
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
- signing bonusPayment upon accepting employment
- deferred compensationIncome paid after earning
- vestingGaining full ownership
bonus · salary · pension · benefits package · retention bonus · severance · profit sharing · restricted stock
Faithful commitment to another
- tenureProtected employment status
- non-competeEmployment rivalry prohibition
- commitmentFirm pledge to act
- longevityDuration of existence
job security · employee retention · lock-in · contractual obligation · notice period · clawback · forfeiture · waiting period
Abundance of valuable resources
- prosperityGood fortune, success
- six figuresIncome above $99,999
- executive paySenior management remuneration
- lucrativeYielding substantial profit
affluent · high earner · financial security · corner office · elite · privileged · top earner
stock options
Contracts to purchase shares
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
- signing bonusPayment upon accepting employment
- deferred compensationIncome paid after earning
vesting · bonus · salary · pension · benefits package · retention bonus · severance · profit sharing · restricted stock · performance bonus
loyalty
Faithful commitment to another
- tenureProtected employment status
- non-competeEmployment rivalry prohibition
- commitmentFirm pledge to act
longevity · job security · employee retention · lock-in · contractual obligation · notice period · clawback · forfeiture · waiting period · vesting schedule
wealth
Abundance of valuable resources
- prosperityGood fortune, success
- six figuresIncome above $99,999
- executive paySenior management remuneration
lucrative · affluent · high earner · financial security · corner office · elite · privileged · top earner
shackles
Metal bonds for prisoners
- constraintLimiting condition or rule
- trapDevice for catching animals
- bondageInvoluntary subjugation to another
confinement · fetter · yoke · leash · cage · binding · tethered · stuck · locked in · chokehold
- workplacehours, cubicle, desk job, holiday party, desk
- Career Advancementjob promotion, advancement, moving up, upward mobility, career ladder
- job securityjob security, job protection, job retention, permanent position, job stability
- work rewardsbonus, cash bonus, performance bonus, merit pay, merit raise
- employee benefitshealth insurance, pension, 401k, 401(k), retirement
- money disordersshopping addiction, compulsive spending, compulsive buying, gambling addiction, compulsive gambling
golden handcuffsgolden parachute
Lucrative exit agreement
golden goodbye · severance package · buyout · golden boot · layoff
golden handcuffsjob mobility
Ability to change employment
free agent · at-will employment · professional autonomy · entrepreneurship · self-employment
gold, golden, handcuffs, golds, gilded, goldenrod, goldsmith, golden age, goldsmiths