Worker poaching is a norm in nearly every field around the globe. And as a matter of fact, it is very legal because it keeps the competition high and makes companies compensate workers with salaries they deserve. However, a suit has been filed against Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit and Pixar. This has been filed by five engineers who accuse these companies of clandestine compromises over not poaching each other’s workers. Now, an email has surfaced during the proceedings of this suit which is from Steve Jobs to Google’s former CEO asking to stop poaching Apple’s workers.
The email was sent by Jobs to Eric Schmidt in 2007. In the email, Steve Jobs wrote, “”I would be very pleased if your recruiting department would stop doing this.” Following the mail, Eric asked his recruitment department why this was happening, to which the recruitment official responded apologetically and said that he would immediately release the Apple engineer who had been hired.
The five software engineers who filed the suit claim that the five companies named in the suit reached a clandestine agreement through which they wouldn’t poach each other’s workers. And that this helped these companies retain their employees at low wages since the employee couldn’t go to the other company. Legally, this infringes upon fair play and may turn into class action suit.
Companies that have been named in the suit, however, have responded by saying that they did this to protect the numerous collaborations they have with each other. This does make sense but still, it’s a no-win situation for the poor employees. For now, the judge has allowed the civil lawsuit to proceed.
Image courtesy acaben.
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