While American capitalism turns everything into a transaction, which usually leads to dehumanizing employees, I'd blame this one more on the failure of modern education to adapt.

The fact that we spend 15-18 years just "learning" and then spending all your time on the job seems like almost the worst possible system except no education at all. Starting work much earlier (I know I could have been doing something useful at 15-16) and accepting that professionals can take a month off just for development could have become normalized if the job market weren't as exploitative as it is right now.

Given how easy high-skill employees jump ship today, I can see why companies would naturally become this defensive. It's a terrible system that's broken by a lack of trust on both sides.