For Those Leaving California, Concern About Non-Competes?

On a personal note, the benefits of leaving California far outweigh any downsides. Mainly instead of being nearly 30k in credit card debt, I have about 2x that in savings and retirement accounts.

The only non-competes which are enforceable have a narrow scope. It's not a bad idea to switch industries for a year or so anyway. Like if my last job handled shipping, and they say I can't work in the shipping industry for a year, I'll just work in a different one.

Putting aside the possibility of non-compete clauses being unenforceable in a new state, would that really be something to be concerned about? Worst case, it's still enforceable and nothing changes.

The concern is in California, post-employment non-competes are broadly unenforceable; but moving to a different state means non-competes may be enforcable. Does that make it harder to move jobs, is it limiting, can you negotiate them away, etc?

I’ve never lived in CA and I’ve never been asked to sign a non-compete.

There’s plenty of companies that do not compete with your company.