I think rare situations can exist where a company would reasonably conclude that paying the employee not to compete is worth a lot more to the company than thei

I think rare situations can exist where a company would reasonably conclude that paying the employee not to compete is worth a lot more to the company than their salary. However, they should pay for it, not the employee (or the market, for that matter). I think open source, the internet, and Stable Diffusion have shown that the diffusion of knowledge is generally in the public interest. I really think judges made a serious mistake when they stopped treating non-compete clauses as unlawful prior restraints on trade. They are not remotely in the public interest.