There’s so much I want to say on this… but I will leave it at:
We need a culture change for this to happen. Right now we see it as a talent pool or pipeline. They aren’t humans making choices and entering careers. They are simply butts filling a role to meet a demand.
The companies who see them as people do not use the word pipeline and aren’t asking HR how the talent pipeline looks. They have grown past this and now understand that employees are humans who have chosen specific work to fund their lifestyles, or attempt to here in CT! They have lives outside of work, families or friends they enjoy talking with and hanging out with, and hobbies they enjoy doing. They set up ways to connect their employees to the work they do versus just clocking in and clocking out.
Once everyone (small shops and large corporations) sees their employees as humans, then you will see the word pipeline disappear because people will realize that folks who enter a pipeline are replacement but folks who choose a pathway are a little less so because you understand who they are and what they bring to their teams, the company, and the culture.
Love this thought and agree with you, as I like seeing the people I work with as humans who have chosen to work with me versus elements in an ecosystem that are forced to do so because of the pressure guiding them downstream.
