[sublinear]

> software engineering is now a giant assembly line and the productivity (or skill required) per individual has dropped to near zero

If you want a more engaging job you can take a paycut and work at a startup where the code is an even bigger mess written by people who are just as lazy and disorganized but in another (more "prestigious") programming language.

Joking aside, when inevitably someone needs to fix a critical bug you'll see the skills come out. When products/services become stable and profitable it doesn't necessarily mean the original devs have left the company or that someone can't rise to the occasion.