What is the deal with allies

I am relatively new to the game, so I might be missing something, but this concept is totally broken. I hire an ally and it's hired away from me in 0.1 seconds. I hired 10 in a row, I lost all those allies quicker than it took to click all the hire buttons. What is the point of this system if you don't have a minimum time where you can't lose an ally. 12 hrs? a day? . Otherwise I don't see the point of this system. I don't even try anymore because they just get taken away in seconds.