Notably, this is exceptionally common in every country I’ve ever lived in that had such Visa’s. Including them being used as political footballs (including for India, Brazil, Germany, etc).
Does it suck? Yes. Is this unexpected? Not really, no.
Not sure when you lived here but Germany does not require you to leave the country to renew the document that lets you re-enter¹, same as rest of Schengen. Renewal frequency is also 4 years for "EU Blue Card" holders (STEM workers).
¹: residence permit card in case of schengen, visa in case of "non-immigrants" in US.
It improved a few times during my years here, it's very refreshing compared to what I've seen of the US, where the system is almost as clunky as it was in the 90s.
Does it suck? Yes. Is this unexpected? Not really, no.