I had to stop a previous employer from doing just that in 2003. It was bad practice then, too. Big companies are just more susceptible to these kinds of short-cuts. Especially shortcuts with no clear benefit except to a lazy programmer.
I remain pessimistic.
Failing to encrypt user passwords isn't a short-cut; it's an inexcusable and egregious failure — especially when it's done by a company that has the resources to do it right in the first place.