Non-compete are non-enforceable outside of a very large muted set of circumstances.
Do you have some extra reading on this? I know legality varies by location but I was under the impression these were much more common than you claim. In any event, aren't many employees forced to sign non-competes as part of their contract whether or not they are enforceable? This is something I imagine the average worker wouldn't have the knowledge to know is unenforceable.
Here is a paper looking at intra-firm "no poaching" agreements, e.g., if you work at one McDonalds, corporate policy dictates other McDonalds can't try to poach you. I haven't read it but it was discussed in a recent Vox podcast.
