That wasn't software engineers eliminating that work. And neither is it today AI eliminating software jobs. Let's name the straw man in the room: it's humans displacing humans, and extracting the value for themselves.
Just like in past history.
Yes, it sucks, for software engineers, those in the past, and those in the future. As long as you and others fall for the straw man perhaps you and others will get more and more tricked and hurt, misplacing your aggression and hatred on each other rather than those receiving most of the extracted value.
> extracting the value for themselves
Yes in some cases, but the reduced costs also allow lower prices which benefits all consumers of whatever product is being produced. At least for those products where there is a competitive market.