I agree with the general gist of the article, for one specific reason: the non-competes discussed don't come with any pay.
In much of trading-related finance, non-competes or garden leaves are ubiquitous, with periods lasting between 6 months and 2 years. However, they are usually paid, and in many cases paid well (more than your annual base salary). In my view, this makes sense: you may have learned a trading strategy that is highly valuable to the firm you are leaving and it is expected to decay over time. You are being compensated not to share this with competition.
In that context, I eagerly sign non-competes with the expectation of having 6-18 months paid vacation at some point in the future. Some non-compete periods can be _glorious_. A guy in Chicago sued his former employer to have his non-compete enforced (and thus collect a massive pay cheque): https://www.natlawreview.com/article/employer-s-waiver-non-c...
I had a similar situation (I am Canadian and was on TN). I successfully applied for a status change via marriage on account of my wife being a US citizen. My attorney said that to get around the temporary intent of the TN status, I had to wait at least 2 months after entering the country before applying for the change of status, in addition to her legal footwork. This meant being able to stay in the country for at least 8 consecutive months (2 months wait, up to 6 months for travel authorization documents), which may be complicated for some. It is possible though.
In much of trading-related finance, non-competes or garden leaves are ubiquitous, with periods lasting between 6 months and 2 years. However, they are usually paid, and in many cases paid well (more than your annual base salary). In my view, this makes sense: you may have learned a trading strategy that is highly valuable to the firm you are leaving and it is expected to decay over time. You are being compensated not to share this with competition.
In that context, I eagerly sign non-competes with the expectation of having 6-18 months paid vacation at some point in the future. Some non-compete periods can be _glorious_. A guy in Chicago sued his former employer to have his non-compete enforced (and thus collect a massive pay cheque): https://www.natlawreview.com/article/employer-s-waiver-non-c...