Depending on your position in the company, an employee may still have leverage in their technical experience or client relationships. I imagine such an employee

Depending on your position in the company, an employee may still have leverage in their technical experience or client relationships. I imagine such an employee may sign a non-compete that explicitly prevents forming or joining a competitor or professionally engaging or joining a client. Chances are though, these terms are already part of their original employment agreement in some way (as allowed by the relevant laws in the state). That said, non-competes are court-tested and the business may not be interested in expelling more resources to prevent competition when they could just make a new contract not tied to their employment. The so-called "Gardening Period."