Many tech companies now exist in the modern world. Do you think that these companies have agreements with each other when it comes to hiring away a talent? In the latest federal antitrust investigation, the same question is being asked and search companies are never exempted.
Information requests were already sent to Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google. Any company will want to keep their talents from being hired away especially by competitors, and that is fairly understandable. The talent already knows the secrets of the company and the company will not want their competitors to get hold of vital information. A very good example is the case of Jonathan Miller who worked at AOL. Before he started with NewsCorp as the new chief digital officer, he has to sign a ‘non-compete agreement’ with his previous company (AOL).
Microsoft also hired away talents from Yahoo but there wasn’t too much talk about it. Antitrust issues are now currently investigated by the federal government concerning tech and search. A year ago, the government became wary of Yahoo and Google’s search advertising deal. When the investigation clearly showed that a lawsuit can be filed, Google immediately backed out.
The antitrust problem that involved Google is not over yet. Currently, Google is being investigated due to the ties and book settlement with Apple. Apple is also being examined for their hiring practices.
The largest tech companies are quite hot in the eyes of the federal government. Knowledgeable individuals claimed that such companies violated certain antitrust laws. Aside from Google, Yahoo, Apple, and Microsoft, Genentech and Intel have also received formal requests. However, antitrust lawyers claimed that not all companies that receive formal requests will be subject to investigation.
Until now, the focus of such inquiries remains unclear to the large tech companies. Department lawyers say that the investigation just wants to find out if there is an agreement between the large companies to not recruit employees from one another. According to the spokesmen of these tech companies, they are cooperating with the investigations but they don’t want to make any more comments about it.
News about the inquiry was first reported last Tuesday in the Washington Post website. However, several years ago, antitrust problems were quite rampant. For instance, in 2001, petroleum engineers and oil geologists sued Exxon and competitive oil companies for conspiring with one another in hiring decisions which resulted to suppressed wages. Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s decision was to uphold the complaint. According to Herbert Hovenkamp, University of Iowa College of Law antitrust expert, when companies sign a naked agreement not to hire workers from each other or when they agree to fixed wages, it can already be considered as an antitrust violation.
The Obama administration seems to be taking an aggressive stance towards the enforcement of antitrust laws. So far, the latest investigation is being aimed at Google. However, earlier this year, Google was already subjected to an inquiry together with authors and publishers about a class action complaint. The Federal Trade Commission is still continuously investigating the close ties of Google and Apple for any signs of antitrust violation.
No comments:
Post a Comment