This is one of the few sad side effects of CA's noncompete laws: it's very hard to run a business like Voleon where there's genuinely valuable IP. It's why we have like 2 quant hedge funds here, despite all the available engineering talent
A Voleon spokesman:
> Those who sign it will receive a paid garden leave.
Voleon ex-employees:
> Voleon ex-employees who spoke to Insider said their noncompete agreements did not provide paid leave. Ex-employees and other sources close to the firm said the unpaid noncompetes have been applied broadly — including to people who say they had little exposure to the firm's secret sauce.
According to a Voleon ex-employee, which also matches my understanding of this industry:
> They will defend that noncompete by saying more and more firms have two years. The trick is: And yes, they pay you something when they make you sit out of your career.
If you have negative opinions of the finance industry in general, I can't do much but remind you that it's a large and varied industry and that your opinions are priors you should expose to relevant data.
Moreover, it raises the question of who truly benefits from these charitable contributions. For example, Ikea is owned by a charity for tax optimization purposes. The mission of the charity is to promote interior design and architecture. Essentially, strategic investments that will ultimately benefit Ikea itself in the long run.
I wonder how this article is going down in the Berkeley stat department...
Companies want to have their cake and eat it too: no, you can't work for someone else, and no, we're not gonna compensate you for that.
In any way you look at it, a business using non-compete clauses is trying to have the employees bear the weight of questionable business practices.