Six technology companies involved in no solicitation agreements were ordered to stop by the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. Department of Justice filed antitrust complaints towards Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp, Intuit Inc. and Pixar because of the no solicitation agreements that the companies took part in. The no solicitation agreements among the six companies prevented the companies from soliciting, or trying to hire each others employees by offering more money as an incentive. The agreements also prevented employees from the opportunity of having a better job at another company. Following the no solicitation agreements, the company executives at the six high-tech companies agreed not cold call each other employees. The no solicitation agreements were between Apple and Google, Apple and Adobe, Apple and Pixar, Google and Intel, and Google and Intuit.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the no solicitation agreements stopped competition and allowed the company to place a monopoly on their employees. The U.S. Department of Justice and the six companies had later reached a settlement. The settlement prevents the companies from making no solicitation agreements for the next five years. In general, that allows the companies to solicit freely.
I think the settlement was a good settlement. The no solicitation agreements prevented competition, which is very important by-product of capitalism. Business competition ensures that companies survive if it provides its customers with products and services that it needs. The U.S. Department of Justice is very strict on antitrust issues and I think it did the right thing. The six companies still don’t admit that they did something wrong and still insist that they made the agreements to maintain good relations with the other companies. That is still debatable. What do you think about this issue?