Isn't research a large part of what universities are for though?
I don't want to argue that tenure is the best system but it exists for a reason: so that those who have proved themselves can pursue research which is longer term and carries more risk. I don't think it makes sense to get rid of it without a proper replacement.
University is pretty much the only place where people can do truly long term research. The only exception I can think of is Microsoft Research and, besides being only limited to CS, I believe they've recently taken a turn to trying to align more with products.
You can't even do long term work at a university because you still need the funds for your employees / lab / equipment / materials / subjects. The university doesn't give you those funds, they only pay your salary, when you're tenured, so if you have tenure but no grant funding, it's just you in an office with a blackboard.
Sometimes that is enough (like in pure math) but there are lots of pursuits that are completely ruled out by the absence of additional funding.
I don't want to argue that tenure is the best system but it exists for a reason: so that those who have proved themselves can pursue research which is longer term and carries more risk. I don't think it makes sense to get rid of it without a proper replacement.
University is pretty much the only place where people can do truly long term research. The only exception I can think of is Microsoft Research and, besides being only limited to CS, I believe they've recently taken a turn to trying to align more with products.