I once had a company demand I sign a non-compete after I'd handed in my notice.
I honestly don't understand what kind of thought process goes into this. In my case it was pure bridge burning and I have no idea why they thought they could pull it off. They even tried to claim they had the full backing of their legal team despite none of the legal team being present in the meeting.
They hope you'll be an idiot. That's no reflection on you, just to be clear. It's more hoping that you'll be distracted or just have some sort of brain fart despite being intelligent most of the time. After all, it costs them nothing to try, so why not? It's kind of the same rationale as that car-warranty spam. It doesn't have to work often to become habit.
I honestly don't understand what kind of thought process goes into this. In my case it was pure bridge burning and I have no idea why they thought they could pull it off. They even tried to claim they had the full backing of their legal team despite none of the legal team being present in the meeting.