Non-Competition - Policy Ideas

I have written before about Massachusetts liberality towards non-compete agreements here and here. NECN reported a potential change its Mass. non-compete culture to change?

Warner said he believes limiting or banning non-competes would lead to more companies like Google, Cisco Systems, and Avid getting launched in this area instead of Silicon Valley or other parts of the country.

"Here's what happens with non-competes: People think about starting a new company, but they can't leave their current company and go to a competing company,'' Warner said in an interview at a Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council conference this week. "The non-compete issue is hurting us more than you might ever know.''

It's unclear if this bill moves this year. The state's biggest business lobby, Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which represents over 7,000 employers, isn't opposing or backing the bill, saying it sees deep division on the issue. AIM said it thinks fixing other issues -- like taxes, unemployment insurance and electricity costs -- would do far more to improve the Bay State business climate than would the change in non-competes.

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Beck said he agrees some more could be done to unlock the flow of tech talent in Massachusetts, short of a total Silicon-Valley-style ban on non-competes. He's working pro bono with Brownsberger and Ehrlich and advocates on various sides of the issue to find middle ground and get legislation enacted -- building on the two legislators' own agreement to mesh their previously separate non-compete reform bills. "We're trying to find a compromise between the legitimate business interests of the employer and the right of the employee to continue to work" in their field after leaving an employer, Beck said.

I remain unconvinced that Indiana's conservative approach to non-competition agreements makes Indiana any more attractive to businesses than other states. I think Massachusetts has not been able to translate its academic talents for technology (remember that MIT stands for Massachusetts Institute of Technology) as California has because of its non-compete policy.