> Do you realize[...] Yes. > They want new talent but they don't want their current talent bouncing around for more money. Of course everyone wants to retain

> Do you realize[...] Yes. > They want new talent but they don't want their current talent bouncing around for more money. Of course everyone wants to retain employees, and I'm sure that many will stoop to less-than-ethical means to do so. I never suggested that the possibility of a conspiracy between companies was crazy, just pointed out why it's ineffectual. Google and Apple can maybe make it work, because there's no substitute for those names on a resume. But once you start going down the brand name ladder a bit, it is (a) infeasible for the large number of companies to conspire together effectively and (b) far more likely that some companies will refuse to conspire, and those companies will get the upper hand in the hiring market.