There are plenty of occupations where somebody gets paid to keep doing their thing. Examples are physicians, K-12 teachers, auto mechanics. I know of no "senior physicians" or "senior teachers." A friend of mine spent his entire career as a tree surgeon, right up to the day he retired. Some of them get paid well enough, or have decent enough pensions, that they retire well before age 65.
Indeed but like senior engineers, they are paid to stop doing the original job that they loved. What I'm saying is that engineering is not unique in this way.
