Churning out code usually isn't engineering, and it isn't tomato picking. It's more like being a machinist in an industrial setting. You need to know the tools and how to read the spec. That's why you can post a technology position, get 1,000 resumes from people working professionally, and find that 80% of the candidates lack basic knowledge.

The problem is that if you don't up your game to be in a more engineering-y role, you're just one ROI calculation away from being automated out of existence.