The US Justice Department is investigating hiring practices at tech and biotech companies, including Google, Apple, Yahoo, and Genentech, says the New York Times. The antitrust investigation is looking into whether there is a gentleman's agreement among the companies to not actively recruit each other's employees. "Most companies have a hands-off list," says Ken Perluss, a former director for talent acquisition at Yahoo.
TechCrunch says the Justice Department has it all wrong. "Stealing employees from each other is a way of life for tech companies. Silicon Valley is one of the most competitive employment markets in the country—for CEOs and VPS to engineers," Erick Schonfeld writes.