This is how people work and it will not change anytime soon. Everybody needs weekly check-in with the company (represented by the manager) to stay in course.

I call bullshit. I have over a decade of experience in this industry and have only had regular 1-on-1s with my managers over the last year. Despite this, I've always been a highly valued contributor to the companies I've worked for. If anything, the last year has been the worst / most-dysfunctional of my career (although, this is probably not related to having 1-on-1s, but rather unrelated organization chaos). I have always talked regularly (i.e. daily) with my manager, but formal 1-on-1s were never part of the equation.