jobs - Penalties to stop leaving staff - FT

Officially most labor contracts have clauses that would stop staff from leaving a job without notice or joining competitors for a certain period. It did not stop staff from doing just that, causing HR departments a major headache. Never I heard of a company that would actually try to fine those employees. Those days are over, writes the Financial Times today. (A tip of the headline service of Chinabiz).
The shortage of senior engineers, managers and technical staff, triggered off by China's economic growth, has sparked off this latest change on the labor market. I'm not sure it is going to work: it might even have a contraproductive reactions as qualified people would be hesitant to sign contract with companies that enforce fines.