Company ridiculous questionnaire tells employees not to be friends with people working for competitors

When you start working in a company, you may have a cordial relationship with a co-worker, which later turns into a life-long friendship. However, after leaving a job to work for competitors, many would love to retain their friendship outside the premise of their work. Sadly, that's not the case with this company, as it believes a person shouldn't be friends with people working with their competitors, per their questionnaire. The questionnaire, shared by u/rdg110 on Reddit, detailed a hypothetical situation and asked the job candidate to choose out of three options. The correct answer, according to the company, left many people on the internet stunned.

The prospective job candidate shared a picture of their screen with the question, their response, and the company's answer. The question was, "Ana just announced to her good friend and colleague Laura that she accepted a job offer from a competitor." The question went on, "Laura was sad about the news but happy for her colleague. Laura feels that it is not that big a deal though because they both live close by and attend their kids' sporting events." The question concluded, "Is Laura correct that they can continue their personal friendship as they always have?" There were three answers to the question: yes, no, and maybe, with reasoning for each option. The candidate had picked "Yes."

The answer, according to the company, was: "Maybe. Competition laws are strict and although they can still be friends, they must be cautious on how they proceed with their relationship." The candidate thought that this idea was quite "insane." Many people in the comments agreed with the candidate and reiterated their point.

u/Zzzaxx wrote, "Legally, the company is correct. In certain industries, it's illegal to discuss business matters with other industry members, as it could be seen by the regulators as collusion, price fixing, market manipulation, etc. Only a small number of industries, mostly financial services, and only a small fraction of higher-level managers and executives would be reasonably capable, but let's be honest, the C-Suite rarely faces real consequences and it's almost always the working folks that get pinned for this. It's bull****, but legally, they're correct and it would be better for the individual worker to know this and protect themselves in these specific scenarios. That is until the oligarchy is toppled, and we can all reap the rewards of our collective labor."

u/electrical_deer125 commented, "We are a family! Until someone quits, then they're dead to us like when people leave a cult." u/Pantone802 remarked, "I had a former client try to pull this on me when the original owner and my longtime friend left the company. I laughed right in their face and told them I looked forward to them trying to enforce that. Last I ever heard about it." u/Author-Brite added, "Wow… these people really trying to say you have to stop being friends with others once you stop working with them."