Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your friend was working for a bureaucratic company. Source: I know plenty of engineers without any formal degrees working for big money at real companies.
If they dont have formal degrees, then "engineer" is a loose term. They would not be professional engineers (PE/PEng).
Software developers can be at least as highly skilled and intelligent as can be engineers, but, most of the time, they are engaged in a highly skilled craft rather than engineering. Making software is sometimes more creative and more integrative than engineering.