🗓️ Idiom: Golden Handcuffs
💬 Meaning
- Incentives, such as large bonuses or stock options, offered to employees to encourage them to stay with a company.
- These rewards often make it financially difficult for someone to leave their job, even if they want to.
🧠 Example Sentences
- He didn’t enjoy his job anymore, but the golden handcuffs kept him from quitting.
- Many executives are tied to their companies by golden handcuffs in the form of long-term bonuses.
- The company offered golden handcuffs to keep their top talent from leaving.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase originated in the 1970s and is a metaphor. “Golden” represents the financial rewards, and “handcuffs” implies being trapped or bound, showing how lucrative perks can restrict job mobility.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
She stayed in the role for years because of the __________ handcuffs.
Answer
golden
2. Choose the correct meaning of “golden handcuffs”:
A) A contract with many restrictions
B) High pay and benefits that make it hard to leave a job
C) A policy requiring long notice periods
Answer
B) High pay and benefits that make it hard to leave a job
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“He felt stuck in the job because he didn’t want to lose the stock options and bonuses.” → Change the sentence using: golden handcuffs
Answer
He felt stuck in the job because of the golden handcuffs.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
👉 HR and Recruitment Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit
