You're mistaken, there are people in the industry who are engineers. In some lines of work (architecture, law) membership in a professional organization is required. But if you went to school in an accredited program (most university Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, etc.), you can become a professional engineer. It's required to join the IEEE, in fact. The point of the professional organization is to hold it's members to a high standard; part of this is not offering 'bargain basement' services. The reason you don't see a lot of discount medical practitioners and lawyers is arguably because their organization would disbar them. Likewise, hiring a consulting software engineer who is a P. Eng. brings the benefit that if they act unethically, they can lose their certification.