
Do Non-Competes Make States Non-Competitive? - timr
http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/08/08/ca-reaffirms-that-non-competes-are-non-starters-will-ma-and-wa-listen/
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mdasen
Basically, non-compete agreements allow corporations to become complacent and
lazy. They don't have to worry about their competition getting their employees
and the knowledge they hold so they don't have to be as vigilant about
improving their product. It also means that employers don't have to compensate
their employees (monetary or otherwise) as nicely since the employees don't
have another option.

On the flip side, it breeds an environment where employees do just the minimum
to get by because they aren't likely to be rewarded by their own firm and
proof of good work won't help them get another job because of the non-compete.

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DenisM
In other words non-competes are bad for economy, just like slavery is bad for
economy. The similarity is more than skin-deep.

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pg
Bijan's right. The enforceability of noncompetes probably does harm
Massachusetts. It's not the main reason Boston lags Silicon Valley, but it
doesn't help.

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ivankirigin
I wasn't able to take a job at a startup in Cambridge a few years ago because
of fear that a lawsuit from a non-compete I'd signed could stall a product
launch at some ambiguous point in the future.

I was really pissed about it at the time.

