There are lots of roles at big companies that don't involve actually writing code. The bigger the company, the more communication and organizational overhead there is, and the more not-actually-coding work there is. Even within roles that have a "software engineering" title.
Hell, I barely touch any code in my current company. The only reason I can still code is because I love it, started programming at about 11 years old, and still do it in my spare time. If it was "just a job" for me, then no doubt the skill would atrophy.
It obviously worked for the candidate you mention, didn't it? Spent 7 years at FAANG, didn't know how to code.