I'm also not really sure which situations an employment contract would really hurt you in tech besides maybe some IP stuff. NDAs are usually separate.
IANAL,but they're still enforceable, especially in the grandparent's situation where the grandparent's work product was accepted and they were paid. There are realms of contract law where signature compliance is more prescribed like probate.
In my first contract for a dev job:
- noncompete
- agreement to work for a minimum amount of time, while my employer could terminate me at will (I don't think this one was actually enforceable where I live, since I didn't get a signing bonus, but I didn't know that at the time)
- IP stuff
- agreement to arbitration for any disputes (and employer chooses the arbitrator of course)
I would probably dispute some of those now, but as at the time I was naive, fresh out of college. And even if I had pushed back, I didn't have much leverage. I had just moved, and had no money, I couldn't afford not to take the job.