I think their point is that there's a split between the modeling / mathematical focus versus an imperative algorithm focus.

Kind of like how being good at relational-databases and SQL is different than being good at coding up B-tree implementations.

You don't need to be a good algorithm engineer to secure a high-paying job though. In fact high-paying jobs regularly turn away strong algorithm engineers because they can't pass leetcode challenges.

The advice is sound -- if you want money focus on the flashy buzzword thing, not the actually useful thing.