This thread is not based on data, it is entirely opinion and the evidence anecdotal, so I'm not sure how to respond.
At the national level, fabs in the US represent in total a small field to be employed in. Even Intel with its Oregon and Arizona fabs is not a huge employer for people in manufacturing, compared to the number employed in chip design, software engineering fields, customer solution engineering jobs (which all of the chip companies have many of), project management and general management... there are more examples. Working in chip manufacturing in the US is not a big draw for EEs because there aren't many opportunities as a percentage of the total EE job market, chip manufacturing companies in general have a lousy reputation on Reddit, Glassdoor, etc, and I've never talked to a young EE whose dream it was to work in a fab. On the other hand, if you're a chemical engineer, a chemist with an advanced degree, a materials scientist, an applied physicist, or some specialties in mechanical engineering, what's a better choice than chip manufacturing? Defense companies? I haven't heard great things about General Dynamics or Raytheon, but getting US Top Secret clearance (which is not easy) can be an interesting career move if you're willing to make sacrifices up front (and you're a US citizen).
I didn't see a lot of EE poaching for software when I was working, but I'm getting out of date. I have met several BSEEs who later got an MSCS and went into software, but that's not really poaching. Most of the people I've talked to who did that got an MSCS because once they graduated and were doing EE work they didn't like it as much as they thought they would when they chose the major.