英国拟放宽雇佣限制条款，此类条款要求员工在离职或创业前必须等待一段时间，这一规定引发了本国科技初创企业的强烈不满。
The UK is set to curb hiring restrictions that force employees to wait before moving jobs or starting companies, an issue that has drawn the ire of the nation’s technology startups.
据肖娜·戈什报道，工党政府计划出台新的雇佣法规，以确保竞业禁止条款不再成为创业障碍。英国首相安迪·伯纳姆周五在曼彻斯特表示：“我认为部分企业过度使用了诸如竞业禁止条款这类限制性手段。这些规定阻碍了创新，也让最优秀的人才难以充分发挥潜力、为经济注入活力。”
By Shona Ghosh The Labour government plans to introduce new laws around hiring “to make sure non-compete clauses will no longer be a barrier,” Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Friday in Manchester.
英国企业家们一直抱怨，大公司通过合同设置漫长的等待期来限制新员工的流动。对于急需高价聘请工程师的人工智能初创企业而言，这一问题尤为突出。由谷歌DeepMind前员工创办的人工智能企业Inherent Labs上月发布了一封公开信，共有20位初创企业创始人联署，呼吁废除竞业禁止条款、冗长的离职通知期以及带薪休假等限制措施。
“I believe some businesses have gone too far in their use of restrictive practices such as non-compete clauses,“ he added in broadcast remarks. “That’s a drag on innovation and prevents the best really being energized and bringing that dynamism to the economy.” British entrepreneurs have complained about contractual restrictions that enforce a long waiting period for new hires from bigger rivals. It’s a particular concern for artificial intelligence startups, which are competing fiercely for expensive engineers. Inherent Labs, an AI startup founded by alumni of Google DeepMind, published an open letter last month signed by 20 founders calling for an end to practices such as non-competes, lengthy notice periods and garden leave.
据悉，美国加利福尼亚州并不强制执行竞业禁止条款，这让英国的初创企业和投资者感到自己处于竞争劣势。
California does not enforce non-compete clauses, which UK startups and investors said puts them at a disadvantage.
风险投资机构Evantic Capital的创始合伙人马特·米勒评价称：“这一举措将助力英国在人工智能领域保持领先地位。”自上任以来，伯纳姆便对科技与科学部门进行了重组，科技行业也一直在期待他能出台更多相关政策。初创企业联盟的执行主任多姆·哈拉斯指出，此次政策调整有望对英国的经济增长产生实质性影响。
“This move accelerates the UK’s ability to be at the forefront of the AI wave,” said Matt Miller, founding partner of venture firm Evantic Capital The tech industry has been waiting for more clarity on the sector from Burnham, who reorganized the department for tech and science soon after taking office. Dom Hallas, executive director of the Startup Coalition lobby group, said the new policy change can “materially impact” the UK’s economic growth.
人工智能部长卡尼什卡·纳拉扬周五在社交平台X上发文称，除竞业禁止条款外，英国还将着手解决离职通知期过长等其他限制性问题。
Along with the policy on non-competes, the UK will look at tackling other restrictions such as long notice periods, AI minister Kanishka Narayan said in a post on X on Friday.