Can the IT industry afford to maintain a status quo that drives away its best people and makes the field look unattractive to class after class of college graduates?

That's what it's doing now, according to InformationWeek's Laurianne McLaughlin, who recently combed over survey data that reveals just how broken the IT talent recruitment and development system really is.

In its quest for business and operational speed, McLaughlin wonders, "has IT started treating its most valuable resource, its people, as disposable?"

Remember, there's a survey involved here. McLaughlin isn't asking that question casually. Over and over again, respondents said project managers under intense time and financial pressure have lost any imperative for deep and effective recruiting, talent development, mentoring or career development.

Instead, mid-career IT professionals are left by the wayside in favor of cheaply bought contractors, and young people are assumed to be disloyal short-timers.

You don't get to cry about a talent shortage if this is the way you treat people. You don't get to whine about how Facebook and Google vacuum up all the top talent when you know full well that you'd have the loyalty of your IT people if you showed that you'd be loyal to them, McLaughlin argues.

The industry's pleading for more young people to go into math and science will be for naught if those kids graduate knowing a position in IT will leave them burned out and scrolling through the job boards when they're supposed to be in their prime.

Left unaddressed, a relationship this dysfunctional will only get worse as top talent walks away and young people with strong educations simply write off IT altogether.

There are no easy answers to this problem, no switch that can be thrown to pull the industry back into line with the realities of the job market. This is a relationship problem, and it can only be solved face-to-face.

You can read McLaughlin's column here.