The "best engineers" we have right now started their careers when the startup era was hot and they now have 15-20+ years of experience. They wore all the hats while everyone else stunted themselves straight out of school by going to a big corporate office. In that era, the devs at a startup were the "everything people". I've met plenty of web app devs of that vintage who are just as comfortable compiling a linux kernel, setting up a k8s cluster, maintaining 2Us, etc. I've also met plenty of engineers who started out in the opposite direction, worked as app devs, and are now in high level architect or even CTO roles.

Anyone who chose to specialize went the vocational route of getting certifications and playing the contractor game. They have never truly handled anything on fire. They never stick around long enough to, and that's the whole point for them.

This pattern already happened in the (blue collar) "trades". It started in the late 20th century. Now we have some of the worst built homes, buildings, roads, etc. People will (sort of) put up with a pothole or leaky roof. They will not put up with major infrastructure outages or showstopper bugs that directly impact their minute-to-minute ability to function in modern society.

Do we really want to make this even worse with automated AI copypasta pretending to be "engineering"? Nobody is fooled. The cost cutting is hitting rock bottom, and tons of people overexposed to AI in their investments are about to lose their shirts.

Your "proof" is all there for anyone to find. Ask anyone outside your bubble.