Justice Dept. Probes Hiring Practices at Silicon Valley Tech Firms

Washington, DC -- The Justice Department has launched an antitrust probe into the recruiting practices at technology firms including Mountain View-based Google, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo and Cupertino-based Apple, The Washington Post reported, citing people with knowledge of the investigation. The "industry-wide" review reportedly is focused on purported agreements between the companies to not hire top talent away from one another. "This could be collusive restraint on trade, which could have a serious impact on competition," Albert Foer, president of the American Antitrust Institute, told The Post. Other companies said to be involved in the probe include Microsoft, Santa Clara-based Intel and South San Francisco-based Genentech. In recent years, Microsoft has sued Google and IBM has sued Apple for allegedly hiring away top employees, though both suits eventually were settled out of court. Reacting to the news, Erick Schonfeld, co-editor of the popular blog TechCrunch, called the practice of stealing employees from each other "a way of life" for tech companies, particularly given the ultra-competitive employment market of Silicon Valley.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060203412.html
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/once-again-the-justice-department-is-confused-tech-companies-steal-employees-from-each-other-every-day/