Yes. One MD told me that non-compete is not enforceable if you don't pay. I don't think anyone want to pay six figures and lots of good wills for no good reasons.
No real good reason from either TS or Google, just want to try/learn something new. I still hangout with my old manager/teammates and might come back some days, who knows.
TS's medical plan beats Google handedly, no copay, no deductible for a minimal $7/paycheck (just so you can refuse it if you want). TS also starts out with 20 days vacation compare to Google 15. Hours is the same, you do whatever you want to get it done.
I went from TS to Google and personally know quite a few:
- They only enforce non-compete if you actually go to a competitor (like rentech, KCG, Citadel). You also get paid your normal salary during those time (just to chill around). One of my friends is using that to travel all over the place. If you go to other tech company like FB or Google then you can start the next day (which I did)
- I only have 2 years non-solicit so may be that's a recent change. It doesn't affect you that much though (you can't refer people you know from TS or give them recommendation, that's it).
- If you actually follow the law suits, those people actually tried to upload model to external servers. If you try to do that with Google's HIP code I'm pretty sure they would do the same to you.
I picked TS offer over Google offer before and now that I'm on the other side I regretted nothing. Both are great place to work.