hmm... I thought nepotism generally referred to family members, but the definition includes friends.

I always thought getting jobs through friends was a decent vetted matchmaking process. That said, I've never had a lot of direct power to get friends hired, so I never felt it was nepotism. And the friends were usually from previous jobs.

I think Nepotism generally causes legal issues for companies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepotism

Generally, no. For companies, no.

Nepotism in government is restricted at the federal level, and most states have their own rules about it too. But in the private sector it is common and not illegal by itself. Think about it: if nepotism in businesses were illegal broadly, it would end the concept of family run businesses, and make small farms even harder to sustain. This comment is in reference to the U.S., where Triplebyte normally operates.

Almost every tech company pays employees who refer someone who ends up getting hired. It’s not nepotism it’s just lead gen.

Not just tech companies. _Grocery stores_ do it.

Well, I had to pass an extensive interview process in which said friend was not involved. So I wouldn’t consider it nepotism.