In my experience this is often fueled by people who have the least understanding of their "high bar" criteria: management and HR who never worked at the compani

In my experience this is often fueled by people who have the least understanding of their "high bar" criteria: management and HR who never worked at the companies that they think it is really important to hire from or got the degrees they scan for on a resume. The "high bar" mentality often creates mono-cultures, which can be effective, but usually not resilient, and sometimes toxic.