Technology

Want to Read the Email Exchange Between Steve Jobs and Google about Stealing Employees?

2007 Email Exchange Between Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt Hints at Employee Anti Poaching Deal

(Photo: AP)

An email from 2007 between the late Steve Jobs, Apple’s former CEO, and Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, came to light late last week during a civil litigation case against Apple, Google and several other companies that agreed to not poach each others employees, according to Reuters, giving you a sneak peek into the world of corporate

In 2010, Google, Apple, Adobe Systems Inc, Intel Corp, Intuit Inc and Walt Disney Co’s Pixar agreed on a settlement where they said they would not hinder poaching of each others employees in order to keep salaries and employment competitive.

Here’s the email exchange between Jobs and Schmidt revealing what sounds like an agreement regarding employee infringement:

“I would be very pleased if your recruiting department would stop doing this,” Jobs wrote.

Schmidt forwarded Job’s email onto other, undisclosed recipients.

“Can you get this stopped and let me know why this is happening?” Schmidt wrote.

Google’s staffing director responded that the employee who contacted the Apple engineer “will be terminated within the hour.”

He added: “Please extend my apologies as appropriate to Steve Jobs.”

The defense lawyers of the tech companies, Reuters reports, said that there is no “overarching conspiracy” between the companies but the U.S. judge in San Jose, Calif., will continue the proceedings of the lawsuit.

Gizmodo explains that even though these companies settled with the Department of Justice in criminal court, emails such as this will play a factor in civil settlements.

Comments (33)

  • Searchingforthelight
    Posted on February 1, 2012 at 1:31pm

    Forgive me for being so uninformed. I just found out who Steve Jobs was 6 months ago. I own an Apple because I didn’t like the other computers Id used. But wouldn‘t the company have the employee’s sign statements not allowing them to share information if they left the company? I would have at least had them sign something for 5 years for technology or trade secrets. Didn’t Steve leave another company? I suspect that is why the employee pay is so high for CEO’s to keep secrets and keep them quiet after they leave. Why not pay the CEO’s based on a percentage of what the company makes? Then If the company looses from secrets getting out the CEO looses?
    Just a thought. I might keep them quiet and loyal don’t you think? That and more seminars on
    working as a team. Like a marriage a company should be ran like a team.
    The United States as well for that matter.
    He would have been very well aware of a problem like that and being the intelligent man he seemed to be I would have
    assumed he would have done this. I also read he was into Buddhism ? I don’t know for sure but
    if he was aren’t
    those people extremely compassionate. That is one thing we need in this world right now is
    more compassion don’t you think?

    Report Post »  
    • Searchingforthelight
      Posted on February 1, 2012 at 1:37pm

      I was so engulfed in this website I didn’t even know he was ill. Lately I’ve pulled my head out of hear and looked around the world.

      Report Post »  
  • DeweyBueno
    Posted on January 31, 2012 at 5:19pm

    I respect jobs but also worked for him and found it impossible to work in his environment.

    I can say we had a pirate flag flying and that was the theme. I was there when Bill Gates worked there.

    The public has no idea on the hiring wars and how every company did it. I also worked later for a software company which relied on Apples word about a new operating system was done.

    We printed our software and marketed it.

    Jobs completely went back on his word and changed the operating system. We were stuck with a professional Audio product that no longer worked hitting the shelves. We had to get the new operating system and rework our software. The cost of providing free upgrades was immense.

    It might help if people spoke about what they actually know.

    Report Post »  
  • Nick Jammer
    Posted on January 31, 2012 at 10:22am

    Hey Bible Quotin‘ Science Fearin’ Conservative American,

    Jobs was a fool that ended his own life because he thought he was smarter than his oncologist.
    You are worshiping a false god and appear to be quite the fool.

    Report Post »  
  • ihypnotise
    Posted on January 31, 2012 at 9:43am

    It’s nice to be king

    Report Post »  
  • David, the Constitutional Libertarian
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 10:58pm

    Two separate companies conspired to set wage rates. That is against the anti monopoly laws. I wonder if there is also possible contract laws possibly broken. Headhunting is completely legal. When I ran one of my businesses 20 years ago, I went to different job sites and asked around who was the best and most important workers, than stole them from those companies. When companies get together and conspire to constrain this, it is against the law, rightfully so. If someone is offered a better job or higher wages or benefits, the current employer can make a counter offer. That is the free market, we have to begin enforcing a lot of the anti monopoly laws, IMO.

    Report Post » David, the Constitutional Libertarian  
  • Taldren
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 4:06pm

    Dear new Google employee, Thank you for burning all your bridges at Apple and joining us at our request. That said, I am sorry to inform that you are being terminated from Google to keep Steve Jobs happy. I understand that you are now barred from the top companies in a field that you must have invested a lot of time and money in education to achieve, but at least you will be in good company as nearly 10% of your fellow Americans are unemployed. Cheers.

    Unbelievable.

    Report Post » Taldren  
    • tmbell87
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 5:04pm

      It was the recruiter that was fired, not the newly stolen employee.

      Report Post »  
  • Bigbear13
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 3:49pm

    NDA’a are only as good as those that write them, although it does establish a link, and sometimes people can be traced back. The NDA‘s don’t do a lot of good though if the person violating it isn’t worth anything. Almost all software companies have NDA’s and they are violated all the time, and they’re rarely enforced, because it is hard to prove in a lot of cases.

    Report Post »  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 3:27pm

    Wow, Wow, oh Wow…..

    Report Post »  
  • RightThinking1
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 3:17pm

    Memo
    From: Steve Jobs
    To: Dell Computers

    I would be pleased if your company would stop competing with my products.

    Jobs

    Report Post »  
  • Nick Jammer
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 1:55pm

    Nope, here is a guy that with an ego so huge that he thought he knew more than hos oncologist.
    The oncologist is still above ground while the egomaniac is worm food.

    Report Post »  
    • Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 2:52pm

      Jobs changed the world. Meanwhile, look at you.

      Report Post » Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 3:07pm

      @ Bible

      Then again, it could be worse. He could be you.

      @leftfighter  
    • Nick Jammer
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 4:59pm

      Hey Bible Quoting Conservative bigot, I make $700 5 days a week on my pc and follow my doctor’s advice.
      All Job’s work and money are useless to him now.
      He could probably use some ice water and AC.

      Report Post »  
    • riverdog1
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 5:08pm

      bible, jobs did change the world a little, makes a great product, but he was a first classs jerk.

      Report Post »  
    • Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 8:57pm

      He changed it more than a little. You guys hate that a liberal changed the world. Go back to worshiping your 700 dollars, bro.

      Report Post » Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American  
    • ron2win
      Posted on January 31, 2012 at 7:38am

      @ Bible ,What Nick says is true.I read the book and was astonished that he wasted six months or more to try and stop the cancer with large doses of health food.What you have to understand,Jobs was eating this way his entire life.He got cancer inspite of his eating regimen.He went on a fools errand for almost a year and it cost him his life.He was an astounding person who changed all of our lives.No matter how smart we are , we still are capable of making foolish decisions.

      Report Post »  
    • darkimagesoflight
      Posted on January 31, 2012 at 12:36pm

      Dear Bible Quotin‘ Science Fearin’ Conservative American.
      As a pastor, I ask you to please just stop. Your screen name alone is enough to make me head-desk.

      Report Post »  
  • verycold
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 1:47pm

    I worked in the tech sector many years ago. People left to go to competitors for a variety of reasons with the top being pay and benefits. While it was sometimes disruptive and sad to see good people go, often competing bids to keep employees was used. It is never good for an employee to bounce from employer to employer. They quickly get a reputation which the free market corrects. So I think stopping something is wrong. There are however many times that upward mobility is hampered for some because so many in a department are equally as good. So a person has the right to find the next step up if they can’t find that possibility where they are currently.

    Report Post »  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 3:06pm

      The Free Market didn’t correct an employee bouncing job to job. The employee bouncing job to job for better pay & benefits *was* the free market. We all make decisions to go with the employers that are in our own best interests. If that choice is taken away, especially if the person is “corrected” out of the process, that “correction” amounts to blackballing, which is illegal.

      What happened between the HR departments here was collusion at the least.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
  • alina.bolero
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 1:36pm

    In other words … “Stop presenting my employees with choices regarding their employment! I have lobbied extensively for the political pull and that I have, and I certainly don’t need my underpaid employees aware of the extent of their value in the free market! That sort of ‘dog eat dog’ Capitalism has been deprecated!”

    -1 Google for appeasing that jerk

    Report Post » alina.bolero  
  • stmoad
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 1:10pm

    Is it possible that it was because they are all working on sensitive proprietary stuff? You could go to apple and hire a guy working on os5, who could go to google and hire the guy who know the secret algorithm for their searches etc. Its a common thing to do this. Hire someone, get what they know about your competitor. Then you can fire them, and you (for a months salary – and no unemployment etc) can get the inner workings of your competitors. We are talking about an engineer who is currently working for your competitor. I would assume they all sign in on this, because all of them have the capital to throw around to make an ‘offer you can’t refuse’ to come on board.

    Just food for thought.

    Report Post »  
    • wildchild
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 1:20pm

      That is not true. There is something called a Non Disclosure Agreement. People sign them all the time so as to prevent this type of stuff. Obviously you can break the NDA but then you are subject to criminal penalties including restitution.

      Report Post »  
    • JediKnight
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 1:57pm

      Uh, yeah, sure, because those “secret algorithms” are so simple that you can just memorize it and recode it. Or maybe that stuff is so complex that it took multiple programmers many years to come up with it.

      The ideas will go with the employees. Implementing those ideas in code is another matter entirely.

      Report Post »  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 2:30pm

      Almost every company in the world makes their employees sign non-disclosure agreements now, from the CEO on down to the janitor.

      Getting busted violating a NDA can carry serious penalties that would effectively destroy the life of most people. And in severe cases like you mentioned, those would be prosecuted as corporate espionage cases against the company itself.

       
    • Mikev5
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 3:35pm

      STMOAD you are on the point

      WILDCHILD that’s a laugh the youth now have no morals a non-disclosure means nothing to the youth we now have you are living in the past if you think they would abide by a non-disclosure get a clue.

      Information stealing is rampant in the teck world and could cost any company Billions in lost revenue.

      It happens all the time these people are suing each other every year because of information theft.

      Report Post » Mikev5  
    • tmbell87
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 4:07pm

      Not only NDAs but also non-compete agreements. They usually only last a couple of years. Either way, I think the problem with the whole thing in general is the alleged price fixing of workers’ pay and benefits. Correct if I’m wrong but any agreement between competing companies to not pay workers a certain amount is illegal. It would be like having gas companies agreeing not to undercut each other on the price of gas. It doesn’t give fair market value and so they can either keep prices as low or as high as they want.

      Report Post »  
  • Rowgue
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 12:59pm

    There is nothing illegal about hiring employees away from another company.

    If you really valued your employees enough that you didn’t want to lose them, then you have to make working for you more appealing than working for somebody else, it’s that simple.

    Report Post »  
  • SoCaLCapitalist
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 12:58pm

    Sounds like it should be illegal Jobs was a jerk for doing this. No taking my employees, sounds like he doesn’t want to pay his employees their full value. Looks like they were colluding to keep salaries down. Where’s a good employement lawyer??

    No i don’t work for them, just my first thought on the subject.

    Report Post »  
  • TomFerrari
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 12:56pm

    Having worked in Silicon Valley, the company I was with would not hire employees from other major companies like Google or Apple.
    The reason was, if they all hired from one another, it would cause them to be bidding against each other for employees – essentially creating a FREE MARKET. Instead, they created their own ‘policy’ that interfered with a free market for talent, just like unions do, but the opposite – they did it for employERS, not for employEES.
    It’s a union of employers against the workers, imho.

    Report Post » TomFerrari  
    • Chuck Stein
      Posted on January 30, 2012 at 1:13pm

      Professional baseball has a statutory exemption from the antitrust laws. Where is Silicon Valley’s exemption?

      Report Post »  
  • Laus Deo
    Posted on January 30, 2012 at 12:35pm

    Fix it!

    Report Post » Laus Deo  

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