[bmm6o]

Maybe I'm being nit-picky, I wish we would stop using "poaching" to refer to the (legal) hiring of a person already employed at another company. Actual poaching is illegal, conversely anti-"poaching" pacts are collusive and illegal.

[logicallee]

>I wish we would stop using "poaching" to refer to the (legal) hiring of a person already employed at another company

But that's what it means...? Or do you mean like in the literal sense, like is your comment about illegally hunting wild animals? (which nobody would ever confuse for a second.)

If you are talking about the same thing everyone else is (hiring) then what do you mean by "actual poaching is illegal"? I am trying to really give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you know what you're talking about, but I just can't make heads or tails of your comment...

[bmm6o]

Of course I don't think Facebook shot the guy, and I don't deny that there is a widely accepted meaning that is specific to an employee changing jobs. It's more of a cranky rant that it's a terrible metaphor that I wish would fall out of fashion.

One reason that I think it's so inapt is that the longer-standing definition of poaching refers to an illegal activity. Not only is it illegal, but the illegality is a fundamental part of the meaning of the term. Also it places an odd emphasis on the company that the person is leaving (i.e. this was against their wishes), when they are the third most important entity in this transaction.

[asdfologist]

Source?

According to Merriam-Webster, to poach means "to attract (as an employee or customer) away from a competitor". No indication of illegality here.

[bmm6o]

I'm not sure if you're saying you're not familiar with the meaning that the word has had since the early 15th century, but http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/poaching?s=t. It's application to business employment is obviously much more recent - I can't find a definitive citation, but I'd be surprised if this usage even dated back to the early 20th century.

I find it an inapt analogy to describe a transaction in a competitive job market.

[pmallory]

Since PayPal and Facebook aren't competitors "poaching" isn't an apt description by that definition either. I think "poaching" is just a more dramatic and linkbaity synonym for "hiring".

[mburns]

It's the very next definition of the page you are quoting.

Poach (verb) "to trespass for the purpose of stealing game; also : to take game or fish illegally"

[asdfologist]

That's the wrong definition though. Humans are not "game".

[skj]

That's the GGP's point, I think. The word 'poaching' is used because the humans are treated as game, and continuing to use that word continues to bring up that connotation.

[xacaxulu]

Poaching: Making a significantly more enticing offer to a deserving professional within a free market.

[benihana]

I hate the term poached here. It implies that PayPal owns the person, and that Facebook sneakily took their property. Why do we say "Facebook Poached David Marcus" and not "David Marcus chooses to work at Facebook."?