You seem to be unfamiliar with the absolute basics of cartels, collusion and antitrust law.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust...

What is the point of your comment? I am aware that there were agreements between the companies. My question was what is the rationale behind making such a thing illegal. Your link doesn't answer that question.

Its a bit like asking why stabbings are illegal everywhere, from Switzerland to Vietnam.

Because that's nor a market, that mafia rule.

What the fuck no it is not the same. Stabbings are murder. At the very least you can argue with Kant's imperative that you shouldn't do what you don't want others to do to you. It seems to me agreeing not to poach other companies employees is more in the line with Kant's imperative. If anything, poaching other companies employees would be more like murder. Society seems to already have realized that, that is why they call it "poaching".

"poaching other companies employees would be more like murder."

If you consider improving someone's quality of life by offering better salary to be 'like murder', and do not recognise that cartels, illegal in every civilised nation, are bad for the economy, then I cannot fathom what I could possibly write to get through to you

Not all economists agree that cartels are bad. Also they are usually about prices for selling stuff, not for buying stuff (as in buying employees). Just because companies have agreements doesn't make it a cartel. It would be stupid if companies wouldn't be allowed to have agreements.

And as mentioned before, workers cartels (unions) seem to be legal in most "civilized" places.

Or think about another example: poaching somebodies wife. That also seems to be frowned upon in many places. Yet, it is just an agreement that nobody should make somebody else's wife a better offer.

People tend to forget with all those rules that they could also be on the receiving end of things. You may not be a worker forever, maybe one of these days you want to become independent and run your own company. It would be a shame if people effectively weren't allowed to do so anymore.

This is cartoonishly unreal... like it was written by an evil villain.

Wait until you realize unions sometimes are legalized cartels of employees.