San Jose, CA -- They are some of the hottest commodities in Silicon Valley: programmers whose talents should have recruiters blowing up their phones and inboxes, trying to hire them away for more money and better perks. But those workers have claimed the competition for their services have cooled -- and they blame a conspiracy among their employers. The programmers have filed suit in federal court in San Jose, California claiming that major high-tech companies like Google, Intel, Adobe and Apple have violated antitrust laws by agreeing not to hire each other's best workers. The suit claims the companies have kept the programmers' wages in check by preventing bidding wars for the best workers. An attorney for the companies claim there is no conspiracy. But the companies acknowledge there are separate one-to-one agreements among companies as they worked together on various business ventures.
Associated Press