Yes, your “cog skills” could at some point become obsolete (although less quickly than skills in the latest hype framework or technology). So even as a cog, to keep your meal ticket you should stay somewhat up to date. But this requires far less time and energy than what the author describes.

And even then, if someone wants to cash in easily now while the getting is good, and in a few decades becomes unemployable in IT, who’s the author to preach the gospel of “you need to have a resume worthy achievement four times a year or you are lost!” to them?