If you could replace the whiteboarding technical interview rigamarole with a rigorous certification exam, say it has to be retaken only every 8-10 years so one's skills stay fresh but not every 1-3 years or however often most engineers change jobs now, why not? Besides the sudden drop in content on HN written by people venting.

Yeah, make it an FE and PE and we will get some stability in our lives and be allowed to focus on case studies rather than solving abstract puzzles in a hazing ritual. Early in the career the low barrier is great, later in the career, other engineers have much more reasonable career growth.