@cstross Well, i'd say it's endemic to most current societies. People need to work full time, that's a common belief. And there have been productivity gains making a lot of labor unnecessary.
With those combined, if most companies were not as inefficient, the system would break down due to unemployment. Some might even get the dangerous idea of being entitled to some extra free time without starving!

So in conclusion, this company is both one of the heroes of capitalism and a menace to society. If we could just automate such stuff without actually using up the energy it would consume... virtual inefficiency on efficient circuits!