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Re:In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the... by rayiner on Sunday April 20, 2014 @11:26PM (#7619617)
These companies will try very hard to settle before this goes to trial, because the emails that have been unearthed so far are not flattering. The companies lost their motions for summary judgment, which http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/03/28/silicon-valley-ant... is where the companies could have proven that their actions were not illegal based purely on the law and uncontested facts. Now, they'll face a jury trial, and in such a setting, in front of ordinary people, the appearance of wrongdoing can matter a whole lot. The emails produced so far in many cases come across as mean and callous, and that's going to play in front of a jury.

I think tech companies will have to take a lesson from this case and reexamine some of their approaches to dealing with engineers. Tech more so than many other industries seems incestuous in terms of how companies deal with the labor pool. This can result in policies that open these companies up to liability under antitrust as well as discrimination laws.

Re:In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the... by doctorpangloss on Monday April 21, 2014 @12:50AM (#7619841)
> are not flattering. > across as mean and callous

I think you're being too generous. Multiple executives from non-cooperating firms warned Steve Jobs in e-mails that the non-poaching agreements he was asking for were illegal.

Non-poaching, non-solicitation and their cousins are awful for the employee, the industry and future employers. People are not commodities to contract over, and the egregiously pompous executive negotiations will earn fierce punishment from a jury or judge if this doesn't settle.

Re:In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the... by jmillikin on Monday April 21, 2014 @01:20AM (#7619928)
I agree that no-hire agreements are harmful to employees, but non-solicitation is beneficial. Cold calls are obnoxious and I'd be glad to see them stop forever.
Re:In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the... by hueving on Monday April 21, 2014 @04:24AM (#7620264)
Don't answer your phone then. The fact that you're advocating a worse labor market for employees because you don't like phone calls is pretty appalling.
Re:In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the... by jmillikin on Monday April 21, 2014 @07:54PM (#7624806)
I'm not advocating a worse labor market, I'm advocating a market where engineers' lives are not constantly interrupted by phone calls from recruiters. Tech workers do not benefit in any way from being cold-called.

The job market in silicon valley is very favorable to tech workers. A typical college grad could start applying tomorrow and have multiple offers by the end of the week. Someone with a few years at a top-tier company on their resume could probably get an offer directly after the interviews conclude. This is what hiring managers mean by "tech worker shortage": if you can write code, you can get a good job on a very tight schedule.

Re:In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the... by hueving on Tuesday April 22, 2014 @01:34AM (#7626002)
> I'm advocating a market where engineers' lives are not constantly interrupted by phone calls from recruiters.

Don't answer your phone. You're advocating a market where people cannot be recruited because you're happy with your current job. It's selfish.

Re:In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the... by ftay on Monday April 21, 2014 @01:45AM (#7619978)
Lol, way to be short-sighted.