The FTC estimates about 30 million people, or one in five American workers, from minimum wage earners to CEOs, are bound by noncompetes. It says the policy change could lead to increased wages totaling nearly $300 billion per year by encouraging people to swap jobs freely.
In the above example, it seems like it would make sense to handle like a sign on bonus. I don’t have a noncompete, but there was like a two timeout that was pro-rated on my sign on bonus. Basically if I jumped ship before the two years was up I would owe something to my previous employer but less the closer I got to the two years. Tuition reimbursement worked in a similar way.