Apple and Google, under suspicion of conspiring to keep salaries low

Conspiracy of Apple and Google
CBS News reports that seven high-tech companies have been called to court, two amongst them being company giants, Google and Apple. These companies are under suspicion of plotting to not hire each other’s employees, which according to a federal judge, could be a violation of antitrust laws.

After the U.S. Justice Department looked into these accusations, they found at least six companies who kept a list of people they weren’t allowed to call, in order to avoid recruiting employees from other companies. Employees on these lists are now seeking damages and compensation.

Effects of violating antitrust laws
The issue is so serious because by not allowing companies to hire employees from each other, they are reducing competition and when competition is low salaries do not rise.This can be considered as a breach of antitrust laws as it is unfair and monopolistic and does not promote competition. Competition regulates business as it encourages salaries to compete with one another. For instance, one company will raise an employee’s wages in order to persuade them from leaving, or the other company may lure the desired employee by offering a higher figure.

The U.S. Justice Department’s lead attorney, Joe Saveri, says that "They are definitely putting the interests of the company ahead of their employees, which is fundamentally wrong."

A leaked email from Steve Jobs, Apple’s late CEO, writes to Google executive, Eric Schmidt, requesting that Google’s recruiting department would stop poaching Apple employees. This email was sent after Google attempt to recruit an Apple engineer.

And in response, Google fired the recruiter who tried to steal away the Apple employee.

Financial consequences
All companies deny all allegations and draw all these accusations down to a mere conspiracy. However, if the law suit gains momentum in court, it is predicted that this will cost the companies hundreds of millions of dollars.

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