FTC Proposes Banning Noncompete Clauses for Workers

This is a duplicate of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34260577

My Dad was forced to retire early as a network engineer after the small (5 person) RSA consulting shop he was working for actively threatened his livelihood with a non-compete. No one in the industry would touch him because of how aggressively and proactively the owner of the shop was defending the non-compete.

I offered my financial resources and network to help him fight it, but he was nearing the end of his career and just didn't have the energy to fight. He now delivers dry cleaning at $15/hr just to get out of the house.

Non-competes can't die fast enough.

This is a huge deal for improving US competitiveness worldwide, can't wait for the comments period to open.

This is won't affect early stage startups much: startups have limited negotiating power and non-competes are a <blink> tag: it's such a bad look, entrepreneurs are quickly pulled aside by advisors, lawyers, etc.

This might affect California, which used them (their ban) to compete with other states. It's a soft thing along with sunshine, funding (easier, faster, better terms) and the talent pool (larger, better connected).

I've been affected by non-competes all my career and it was part of my decision to move from New York to California - the software industry was simply too volatile to attach yourself to one employer. As I graduated, I had companies recruiting me, it was impossible to pick. Decades years later, I have enough power (and savvy) to cross-out NCAs from contracts along with overly prescriptive SOWs, toothless financial promises, etc. But kids, if you're reading this, the negotiation never ends if you want to get paid and earn a living.