Once again I am happy that non-competes are generally not enforced in California. Otherwise, the companies involved wouldn't even need to reach illegal agreements to interfere with the employment free market.
Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
101–110 of 172 posts
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#102I think anyone whose opinion of Steve Jobs is changed by this knowledge needs to take a good look in the mirror and ask if they are not the hypocrite. Jobs always was a consumate businessman. Before Apple, even, he was scheming his way through a job, getting Wozniak to do his work and going back on his word to split profits. But isn't that what America is all about? Aren't your shoes, clothes, electronics, etc. made…
You're invoking a tired ends justifies the means argument for ... consumer devices? Not societal survival, not space travel, not some other grand enterprise, but ... iPods?
I'm not trying to justify anything. I'm merely pointing out that there is a mythos surrounding Jobs that he was some sort of design god or product messiah. The only thing he ever was was a businessman. If your opinion of him changes knowing that he colluded to keep his cost of engineering low (much the same as he manipulated the market for flash memory to keep those prices low), then you probably didn't pay enough attention in the first place.
Of course, that's the danger in a cult of personality, isn't it?
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#103Serious question: if an accelerator asks participating startups to not hire employees from one another, does it violate laws governing fair competition?
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same in small companies. In our company of 14 people, my last HR meeting had the officer dismissing my mention of doing 30-60 minutes unpaid daily overtime as 'it's a small company, that happens'. They were trying to nail me into a contract doing even more unpaid work: 'Sometimes that happens in a small company' -> 'Yes, I do the in-house IT, and it's part of the job, but I'm letting you know that it's every day' ->…
...you have HR meetings in a company of 14? It sounds like the culture is what's causing that, not the company size. I've worked in companies of 50 that don't have "HR" people (of course, they have people who cut checks, etc. but they didn't create and enforce crazy policies like that!).
We have an HR 'consultant' that does half a day a week
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#105It just occurred to me that when I told Intel I wouldn't be returning after my internship, HR was very pushy about where I was going. I'm glad I was going to a company outside the agreement or I would probably have had no job.
Now that I have been thinking about this comment that I posted earlier, I am infuriated.
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same in small companies. In our company of 14 people, my last HR meeting had the officer dismissing my mention of doing 30-60 minutes unpaid daily overtime as 'it's a small company, that happens'. They were trying to nail me into a contract doing even more unpaid work: 'Sometimes that happens in a small company' -> 'Yes, I do the in-house IT, and it's part of the job, but I'm letting you know that it's every day' ->…
This should just depend on whether you're an exempt or non exempt employee. Most IT professionals are classified as exempt meaning they do not qualify for overtime. If you're paid hourly, or work as a contractor, you should be paid for all your hours.
I don't really care about the overtime, as I do it because I see it as necessary to the job, but I do care about having extra unpaid hours unilaterally tacked on to my working week without any discussion of remuneration. Or even a raise to match inflation.
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#107Gee, I didn't know that employees were akin to the King's game, making it a Bad Thing to poach them. In my world, poaching employees == offering them better options in exchange for the value generating capabilities that they bring to the table. Quid pro quo, and if someone else offers a better quo...
Really. I always considered "to poach" to be a slightly whimsical way to refer to recruiting employees. It never occurred to me that a colluding cartel might be using it as intentional language engineering.
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#108It just occurred to me that when I told Intel I wouldn't be returning after my internship, HR was very pushy about where I was going. I'm glad I was going to a company outside the agreement or I would probably have had no job.
Now that I have been thinking about this comment that I posted earlier, I am infuriated.
I don't want to sound cynical, so please respond. I'm willing to see both sides the issue. I have known some great people in HR, as well.
I worked for Intel. Their HR is a nightmare. Be careful about telling them anything (more than what you are legally obligated).
When they get pushy, push back. Intel has deep enough pockets to handle a little push-back from their employees.
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#109So let's say I am running a startup with two employees. A friend of mine is also running a startup and needs to hire people. Is it wrong for me to ask him not to hire my employees?
there is a good article by Ben Horowitz to this point. http://bhorowitz.com/2011/02/23/is-it-ok-to-hire-people-from...
what happened here is much bigger than a deal that goes between two friends who run a startup. it by all means seems like collusion by the overlords to ensure the minions are kept where they are to 'serve' them ( a minor exaggeration). Parts of this story is revolting, like firing and making an example of the recruiter who poached a google employee.This sickens me and is surprising , probably cause, I am not cynical enough..
Re: Steve Jobs personally asked Eric Schmidt to stop poaching employees
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now that I have been thinking about this comment that I posted earlier, I am infuriated.
I don't want to sound cynical, so please respond. I'm willing to see both sides the issue. I have known some great people in HR, as well. I worked for Intel. Their HR is a nightmare. Be careful about telling them anything (more than what you are legally obligated). When they get pushy, push back. Intel has deep enough pockets to handle a little push-back from their employees.
They systematically ruined people's lives and systematically reduced market pay. They rely on paying market wages and site that in their negotiations. I was able to make 40% more at the other company. The only other side should be removing all HR employees and rehiring. Someone should have been a whistle blower and any and all HR people at those companies who did not say something should be ashamed of themselves.