Apple, Google and others reach deal in DoJ hiring suit

The US Department of Justice and six technology companies have reached a settlement that will allow the companies to poach each other's employees, squashing no-solicitation agreements they have been in place for years.

Those agreements, largely architected and managed by senior executives and dating back to 2005, kept recruiters from 'cold calling' employees of each other's companies about other employment opportunities. Regulators said these agreements between the companies — Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit and Pixar — amounted to anti-competitive practices.

"The agreements eliminated a significant form of competition to attract highly skilled employees, and overall diminished competition to the detriment of affected employees who were likely deprived of competitively important information and access to better job opportunities," the Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Feds, tech companies reach agreement to halt anticompetitive hiring practices on ZDNet.com.