I'd be surprised if business wasn't booming. SEO is not a one-time cost. Google continuously changes the algorithm for search results and agencies stay afloat due to this.

Paid ads on the other hand are pretty much set-up once and you feed in the ROAS to Google and they optimize on that. With Performance MAX, users have even less control.

OP's response is akin to a shovel seller saying business is good when people are saying the gold has run dry.