With "standardized" game engines such as Unreal Engine and Unity and somewhat standardized asset creation pipelines (PBR texturing) a team can start building a great looking game with good graphics and probably good performance by just using "gameplay programmers". Back in the day it was impossible to create good looking games at all without a "game graphics programmer". Maybe on mobile that is different. I would focus on graphics programming in a more broader sense, and maybe consider going into (medical) or CAD visualization fields.. And there I guess targeting OpenGL / Vulkan is a much better platform to be "efficient in".
What I am trying to say is that trying to make "_game_ graphics programming" your home is maybe not the best career choice for a graphics programmer.
I agree with you. 90% of making things is mainly knowing the “general workflow” of dedicated tools and iterate as fast as possible by building a dedicated pipeline.
Low level graphic programing is still a thing and it would be a lie to say it's gone, but it's highly specialized. A low level graphic developer would spend it's days focusing on low level things. Before the Unreal/Unity era, even big game companies tries to share those dev between developments.
What I am trying to say is that trying to make "_game_ graphics programming" your home is maybe not the best career choice for a graphics programmer.