They can just make the engineering team do it, but that's really expensive. A failed onsite is more expensive than if the candidate walked in the door, grabbed

They can just make the engineering team do it, but that's really expensive. A failed onsite is more expensive than if the candidate walked in the door, grabbed someone's laptop, threw it out the window, and left. That's a big deal. Even a 15-minute phone screen at typical Bay eng salaries is like a nice steak dinner (particularly if you include disruption to actually go do it).