Hello Everyone,
I'm part of GTS US (east coast) and have signed the Kyndryl's offer letter. I recently received a Kyndryl Confidentiality Agreement and Excluded Development form. I'm trying hard to understand the terms and conditions but its so confusing (at least for me). I'm sure many of you have also received that agreement. Section 2 (a) and (b) discuss the post-employment prohibition. I want to know whether or not signing this document prevent me from working with Kyndryl's competitors such as FAANG, WWT, CWD etc in case I leave Kyndryl or they kick me out in future.
I will appreciate the input especially from those who have seen that agreement. Thanks
7 replies (most recent on top)
Bruh why u asking here. Ask your manager or hr
@gsu+1c4EzXWU
People going to Kyndryl still have IBM IDs so they are in both boats. just be patient.
Hey, you Kyndryl kast-offs have your own dedicated board, so stop cluttering-up ours!
https://www.thelayoff.com/kyndryl
Anybody read the news anymore??
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/22/biden-administration-aims-to-rein-in-abusive-non-compete-agreements.html
Companies can't legally enforce a non-compete clause in the US. Take it with a grain of salt. The company will try to trick you into thinking they'll get you, but they can't. Pretty much everyone is in a Right-to-Work State, if you're not, you're in a Union State. Don't stress over it.
BTW - you never have to tell IBM who your next employer will be and you don't need to update your linkedin.
Good post by @pqd
I would add, companies rarely even attempt to enforce non-competes except in particularly egregious cases, e.g. an employee tries to lure away significant customers or walks out with valuable IP and tries to use it in their new job. (It may be easier to enforce the non-compete than to sue over the IP.) If you're just a staffer moving to another staff position, don't worry about it.
Interesting. I have not seen the Kyndryl confidentiality agreement, but it sounds like a kind of standard noncompete sort of form, Kyndryl is probably cleaning up the problems IBM had (you generally signed an employment contract when you hired in, but if that was not recently, then it probably did not have a lot that the current contracts have). It is pretty standard practice for companies to require this sort of thing coming in, the enforceability depends a lot on what state you are in.
The administration has moved to restrict non-compete requirements, see:
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/09/1014366577/biden-moves-to-restrict-non-compete-agreements-saying-theyre-bad-for-workers
so this is kind of an evolving situation. Here is a National Law Review article, a bit more dated, that kind of summarizes the current situation, $100k cut-off, etc.:
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/competing-views-non-compete-agreements-changes-may-be-coming-across-nation-to
and state-by-state guidance at:
https://foxrothschild.gjassets.com/content/uploads/2020/06/National-Survey-on-Restrictive-Covenants-July-2017.pdf
You may want to have an employment lawyer look over the non-compete, expensive but probably the only thing that would be definitive. Most will tell you to sign nothing going out the door, as companies tend to try and buttress their legal position with various further limitations or restrictions.