WeWork buys or rents office space and converts it to shared space that it then rents to individuals and firms. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, until it agreed to stop doing so as part of a court settlement, WeWork “required ‘nearly all’ employees, including baristas and receptionists, to sign agreements barring them from working at similar businesses for a year after leaving WeWork.”
a. What benefit did WeWork receive from requiring its employees to sign such agreements?
b. Were there any benefits to employees as a result of signing the agreements? If not, why would they have signed them?