Chipmakers Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom are slapping 'golden handcuffs' on workers to meet demand for the AI boom (www.businessinsider.com)

Nvidia, Broadcom and AMD are increasingly using restricted stock units (RSUs) as the core of compensation packages to lock in talent amid surging demand for AI chips. As share prices have exploded since 2023, stock awards have ballooned in value—Levels.fyi and reporting show examples like a $488K 2023 RSU grant at Nvidia now worth >$2.2M, and some Broadcom grants rising 300–600%—making equity far more lucrative than base pay for many employees. Companies openly tout RSUs as retention tools: Nvidia says turnover fell from 5.3% (2023) to 2.5% (2025), and Broadcom reports voluntary attrition at 6.2%. Technically, these awards vest over multi-year schedules (sometimes up to four years), can be front-loaded to attract hires, and are often topped up based on performance—so leaving early or being terminated risks forfeiting large amounts of unvested equity. The result is “golden handcuffs”: reduced mobility, widening pay disparities between tenured and newer staff, and behavioral effects ranging from coasting to reluctance to challenge management. For the AI/ML labor market, this shifts compensation toward long-term equity exposure, compresses salary competition, and ties workforce stability directly to chipmakers’ stock cycles—benefiting retention but increasing employee risk if company performance or employment status changes.