Top tech companies investigated by US Justice Department on illegal head hunting

The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting an investigation into possible pacts of top hi tech companies not to poach each other’s employees, reports Reuters citing sources with the direct knowledge of the matter. Among those who received notices that the Department is currently holding a formal probe there are Google and Yahoo as well as Microsoft. Besides the notice was also sent to biotech company Genentech, now owned by Roche Holding AG.

Genentech said it was cooperating with the probe.

"Our understanding is that a number of companies received this request for information from the U.S. Department of Justice. Genentech is cooperating and will respond to the request in due course," the company said in a statement.

Meantime, Yahoo and Google confirmed that they were contacted by the Justice Department and were cooperating.

"My sense of it is that there are as many as a dozen companies that have been sent CIDs (civil investigative demands)," the first source said, referring to requests for information sent out as part of a formal probe. "There's an open question of who are the other companies."

The first source said that the frequent shifting of Silicon Valley executives from one company to another cast doubt on the probe. "Silicon Valley technology companies poach each others' employees all the time," the source said.