Comment by Eridrus

These tests are programming tests, but also effectively IQ and conscientiousness tests in the same way that most of what people learn in college is pointless, but graduating with a 4.0 GPA is still a strong signal.

I will say, IME, it's pretty obvious when people have seen a problem before, and unless you work at a big company that has a small question pool, most people are not regurgitating answers to these questions but actually grappling with them in realtime. I say this as someone who has been on both ends of this, these problems are all solvable de novo in an hour by a reasonable set of people.

Leetcode ability isn't everything, but I have generally found a strong correlation between Leetcode and the coding aspects of on the job performance. It doesn't test everything, but nothing in my experience of hiring has led me to wanting to lower the bar here as much as raise the bar on all other factors that influence job performance.