In a free market, people choose the jobs that fit their skills and interests
No it fucking doesn’t. Most people in the so-called free market are stuck in jobs they hate because they need it to afford rent. If you want to encourage innovation and productivity you need to decouple people’s ability to live from their work.
Saw similarly strange pizzas when I lived in Japan. I think in Asia generally they just have a different idea of what to do with pizza.