Honest question: just how often do you actually need to worry about algorithms in your day to day work? The vast majority of software dev, even/especially in hot startups and the like, is bog-standard CRUD and 99.9% of the time the correct response to "I need to do something slightly complicated" is "call an existing library function".

I can't tell during my limited time in an interview if a developer has that knowledge because they crammed (and therefore will forget quickly on the job) or if they actually study and understand this stuff.

I can tell during my limited time in an interview if a developer is capable of making logical deductions and not flail when exposed to a problem they may not have seen before. And, better yet, if they do study algos for fun, this will become apparent!