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Is there actually substantial resistance to this? Or just a few manufactured counter-arguments from news outlets trying to do a both-sides take on this? Non-co

Is there actually substantial resistance to this? Or just a few manufactured counter-arguments from news outlets trying to do a both-sides take on this? Non-competes have been heavily limited or outright voided in California. That's an easy and obvious rebuttal to the Silicon Valley argument.

toomuchtodo 7mo ago
Yes. The US Chamber of Commerce is particularly noteworthy in their attempts to slow the deployment of this policy at scale. They of course act on behalf of their members as a reputational laundering operation, so their members do not have to engage in this lobbying directly (potentially exposing them to reputational risk). U.S. Chamber of Commerce and business groups file lawsuit challenging FTC noncompete ban - https://www.fmglaw.com/employment-law-blog-us/u-s-chamber-of-commerce-and-business-groups-file-lawsuit-challenging-ftc-noncompete-ban/ https://www.fmglaw.com/employment-law-blog-us/u-s-chamber-of... - April 26th, 2024 > Less than 24 hours later, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, the Texas Association of Business, and the Longview Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit against the FTC in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas alleging that the consumer protection agency lacks the authority to issue rules that define unfair methods of competition, and instead, the FTC Act only allows it to bring cases challenging particular practices. The Chamber’s Complaint also contends that even if the FTC possessed such authority, the “noncompete rule would still be unlawful because noncompete agreements are not categorically unlawful under Section 5.” The lawsuit further argues that the rule is “impermissibly retroactive” and reflects an “arbitrary and capricious exercise” of the FTC’s power. > The Chamber of Commerce is seeking an order “vacating and setting aside the noncompete rule in its entirety” and an order permanently enjoining the FTC from enforcing the rule. The plaintiffs are also seeking an order to delay the effective date and implementation of the noncompete ban until the conclusion of the case.
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toomuchtodo 7mo ago
Additional citation: https://www.governance.fyi/i/192862936/who-pulled-the-ladder-away https://www.governance.fyi/i/192862936/who-pulled-the-ladder... ("Who Pulled the Ladder Away") from Marc Andreessen Is Right That AI Isn't Killing Entry-Level Jobs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613752 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613752 - April 2026 > The noncompete story is more galling. Legal experts describe the period from 1990 to roughly 2010 as the golden age of noncompete enforcement in America. What started as a tool for protecting senior executives’ trade secrets metastasized into a blanket restriction applied to hourly workers, sandwich shop employees, pet cremation technicians. An estimated 30 million Americans, nearly one in five workers, are bound by a noncompete agreement. These agreements directly suppress the mechanism through which the job ladder operates: they prevent employed workers from accepting better offers. > The FTC, under the Biden administration, attempted a nationwide ban. The estimated effects were large and specific: $400 to $488 billion in increased wages over the next decade, $524 per worker per year in additional earnings, 8,500 new businesses annually, and 17,000 to 29,000 additional patents per year. The rule was struck down in federal court. The Trump administration formally vacated it in September 2025. The FTC has shifted to case-by-case enforcement, including a February 2026 consent order against a pet cremation company that had imposed blanket noncompetes on 1,780 employees, including hourly laborers and drivers. The bipartisan Workforce Mobility Act, reintroduced in June 2025 by Senators Murphy, Young, Cramer, and Kaine, would ban most noncompetes nationwide. It has been referred to committee. No further action has been taken. Over 150 bills have been introduced in more than 35 states, creating a patchwork that varies by jurisdiction. The patchwork is the opposite of the clear nationwide signal that would restore competitive dynamics. > The graduate scrolling LinkedIn is not competing against chatbots. She is competing against four decades of eroded mobility, in a labor market where the companies that might hire her face less pressure to do so than at any point since the data began. We all spent two years worrying that AI will trap young workers in obsolete careers, if they every get a career in the first place. Meanwhile, noncompete agreements have been legally trapping workers in underpaying jobs for decades, and we barely noticed.

toomuchtodo 7mo ago

Yes. The US Chamber of Commerce is particularly noteworthy in their attempts to slow the deployment of this policy at scale. They of course act on behalf of their members as a reputational laundering operation, so their members do not have to engage in this lobbying directly (potentially exposing them to reputational risk). U.S. Chamber of Commerce and business groups file lawsuit challenging FTC noncompete ban - https://www.fmglaw.com/employment-law-blog-us/u-s-chamber-of-commerce-and-business-groups-file-lawsuit-challenging-ftc-noncompete-ban/ https://www.fmglaw.com/employment-law-blog-us/u-s-chamber-of... - April 26th, 2024 > Less than 24 hours later, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, the Texas Association of Business, and the Longview Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit against the FTC in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas alleging that the consumer protection agency lacks the authority to issue rules that define unfair methods of competition, and instead, the FTC Act only allows it to bring cases challenging particular practices. The Chamber’s Complaint also contends that even if the FTC possessed such authority, the “noncompete rule would still be unlawful because noncompete agreements are not categorically unlawful under Section 5.” The lawsuit further argues that the rule is “impermissibly retroactive” and reflects an “arbitrary and capricious exercise” of the FTC’s power. > The Chamber of Commerce is seeking an order “vacating and setting aside the noncompete rule in its entirety” and an order permanently enjoining the FTC from enforcing the rule. The plaintiffs are also seeking an order to delay the effective date and implementation of the noncompete ban until the conclusion of the case.

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toomuchtodo 7mo ago

Additional citation: https://www.governance.fyi/i/192862936/who-pulled-the-ladder-away https://www.governance.fyi/i/192862936/who-pulled-the-ladder... ("Who Pulled the Ladder Away") from Marc Andreessen Is Right That AI Isn't Killing Entry-Level Jobs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613752 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613752 - April 2026 > The noncompete story is more galling. Legal experts describe the period from 1990 to roughly 2010 as the golden age of noncompete enforcement in America. What started as a tool for protecting senior executives’ trade secrets metastasized into a blanket restriction applied to hourly workers, sandwich shop employees, pet cremation technicians. An estimated 30 million Americans, nearly one in five workers, are bound by a noncompete agreement. These agreements directly suppress the mechanism through which the job ladder operates: they prevent employed workers from accepting better offers. > The FTC, under the Biden administration, attempted a nationwide ban. The estimated effects were large and specific: $400 to $488 billion in increased wages over the next decade, $524 per worker per year in additional earnings, 8,500 new businesses annually, and 17,000 to 29,000 additional patents per year. The rule was struck down in federal court. The Trump administration formally vacated it in September 2025. The FTC has shifted to case-by-case enforcement, including a February 2026 consent order against a pet cremation company that had imposed blanket noncompetes on 1,780 employees, including hourly laborers and drivers. The bipartisan Workforce Mobility Act, reintroduced in June 2025 by Senators Murphy, Young, Cramer, and Kaine, would ban most noncompetes nationwide. It has been referred to committee. No further action has been taken. Over 150 bills have been introduced in more than 35 states, creating a patchwork that varies by jurisdiction. The patchwork is the opposite of the clear nationwide signal that would restore competitive dynamics. > The graduate scrolling LinkedIn is not competing against chatbots. She is competing against four decades of eroded mobility, in a labor market where the companies that might hire her face less pressure to do so than at any point since the data began. We all spent two years worrying that AI will trap young workers in obsolete careers, if they every get a career in the first place. Meanwhile, noncompete agreements have been legally trapping workers in underpaying jobs for decades, and we barely noticed.