Very difficult to scale and evaluate skills. If you’re a medium sized company who is hiring for a role, you’ll get close to 500 applications in a week or so.
It’s easier to have DSA as a qualifier to eliminate.
Some companies would expect freshers to be creative thinkers but most are okay with a fresher being a english-to-code translator that can comprehend a design document and implement the solution.
The fact that you’re familiar with code and understand how to implement a DS or A helps here.
I sort of agree that the excessive grilling with LC hard problems is kind of pointless in MOST companies, but basic DSA is a very good eliminator.