That’s unfortunate. They’re missing out on a lot of talented individuals.

They would much rather miss out on potentially talented individuals than hire one sub-par person. They care much more about avoiding false positives than false negatives.

I also had someone candidly tell me that they deliberately select for candidates who have put extensive time into preparation because that correlates with effort and the willingness to work under crunch conditions in the job. Gross, but effective.

By this logic, maybe leetcode is a sign of somewhere that indulges in death marches and should be best avoided working for?... except when everyone does it, and/or applicant is out of work