Didn't the evidence indicate that engineers weren't off limits? That is, the companies were free to poach engineers from each other?
Admittedly more tenuous, but other emails mention HR staffers being fired for cause due to contacting employees from another firm in the cartel. This would send a fairly extreme message to other recruiters about where to direct efforts.
In my own experience, I never heard from Google while at Apple. 6 months after moving into finance, three recruiters from Google contacted me independently of each other. Ironically, the only reason I went into finance at the time was because I needed to move to NYC and Google wouldn't speak to me.
The fired recruiter lied about a job offering and its pay level.
I thought we agreed not to recruit any senior
level employees…. I would propose we keep it that
way. Open to discuss. It would be good to agree.
Steve Jobs: OK, I’ll tell our recruiters they are free to
approach any Adobe employee who is not a Sr.
Director or VP. Am I understanding your position
correctly?
Adobe CEO: *I’d rather agree NOT to actively solicit any
employee from either company ….. If you are
in agreement, I will let my folks know.*