Employment
concerns
The US Justice department has announced that it is
investigating Apple, Google and Yahoo over the way they block recruiting and
hiring of one another's employees.
The department is concerned that
employment contracts are being used by companies to control the actions of
their competitors, which falls under anti-trust laws. Although Apple,
Google and Yahoo have been named by the department, a spokesman said that it
is part of an industry wide probe into the antics of high-tech
companies.
Most tech companies have clauses in contracts which are
designed to stop employees leaving with sensitive information and giving it
to a rival. However the DoJ said such clauses appear to be being used to
stifle competition.
It is odd that IBM was not mentioned in the
probe. It has been particularly possessive about keeping its top talent.
Last month, the company filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent its
former head of mergers and acquisitions, David Johnson, from joining Dell,
saying it would be a violation of his contract and last year it tried a
similar plan to stop Mark Papermaster from joining Apple.