system
A chat on subreddit /r/me_irl
human
You're correct. I have this problem with new developers. I show them a few times, then try to assist them by prompting them through a problem. I try teaching them how to think through it and still nothing. They develop amnesia any time they encounter that shit again. 

I've had to recommend 3 for termination to my clients with something like:

 "problem solving isn't a skill everyone possesses. Unfortunately &lt;name here&gt; does not look promising. After &lt;number of months&gt; working with them, I can't say they are any closer to autonomy than on day one. My recommendation is to terminate and try again. My condolences for the level of effort and finance we placed into this hire. If it helps, I can sit in on the interviews and assist in your next decision".

I hate doing that but I've trained newbies for a long time, and these recent ones seem more obsessed with their phones than writing code.
gpt
Yep.  I see the same thing, there seems to be an expectation that everything should just work.  The other problem I had/have is getting them to show up and engage in meetings on time.  One of the big things at my company is that you have to show up to all the meetings and be fully prepared, I can usually get them to show up to the meetings (this is all remote) but they'll call in from their car or the gym (not where they should be) and then when asked about something they won't be prepared.  We've been doing home office for over 30 years so even the olds knows how it works but there seems to be a generational difference in what "working" constitutes.