Whoa. This is freaking huge in the media/entertainment industry.
The company I work for lost a MAJOR customer last fall. Management panicked, and rushed everyone to sign a non-compete agreement. Only after getting all the agreements signed did they let everyone know what had happened, and that there would be massive layoffs.
Fucking psychos had just gone through a huge hiring phase. Some new employees had only been there a matter of months before finding out they would lose their job, and wouldn't be able to get a new one in the same industry unless they waited two years.
At that point i would simply ignore the agreement and see if they try to sue me.
I've already had this argument with people I work with. It doesn't matter if a non-compete is enforceable or not. They're meant to demoralize and demotivate employees so they stay with the company at low pay. Someone that has just lost their job isn't going to risk a potentially life-destroying lawsuit.
I know they would sue, because the process is the goal, and they have deeper pockets than I do.
A ton of industries well beyond that. Hell, my propane company I worked for even had non competes.
Also pretty huge in tech. Some of the big firms make you sign some nasty non-competes
Now there is one fewer reason to work in California if you're in the tech industry.
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