Silicon Valley's best minds are being hunted by unicorns

New York

FOR the last year, Google's workforce has increasingly been under attack from a herd of unicorns.

The unicorns, a class of hot startups valued at US$1 billion or more, are all aggressively pursuing the best and brightest minds in Silicon Valley with promises of talked-about workplaces and eye-popping payouts. Amid a general scramble for talent, Google, the Internet search company, has undergone specific raids from unicorns for engineers who specialise in crucial technologies such as mapping.