You know, when it's horizon engineers being talked about: Probably everyone in the audience is done with it and wouldnt touch it with a pole anymore. You engineer your stuff and never do it again once you have a decent level.
I'm kind of like that, although mostly because I have put a lot of time into the game. Every so often I (used to) buy a new ship either because I had a niche I wanted to fill in my fleet or just to try out a ship & see what it was good at in my hands.
I usually have almost all the mats I need already to engineer the basic build then I spend some time using the ship, thinking about it's shortcoming & how I can improve it.
But there haven't been any new ships for a long time, and I already have most of my ships fully engineered now. As you say Engineering is no longer a part of my daily activities. When I am in the bubble I can do almost everything I want to do in a 192t Frag Python and a Corvette for CZs, but I like variety so I try to use different ships when the opportunity arises.
Engineering makes the game easier, particularly as a skill substitute in combat. I can do most of what I do in unengineered ships but I can do more and be more competitive against any opposition in an engineered ship.
I enjoyed some of the engineering unlocking process too (Horizons stuff), again though now it's done that's no longer part of my day to day activities. I have yet to do any mats collecting or engineering in Odyssey, I just use pre-engineered stuff I find while playing.