The summary answer to your question: no, it’s not. Though I can understand why you would get that impression based on the people you have worked with – people who confuse minimalism with user experience design, or are calling themselves UX professionals when they clearly aren’t.
Just like every profession, there are many levels of professionalism and expertise. I’ve worked with many “senior” designers who couldn’t design their way out of a paper bag, and I’ve also worked with and mentored junior team members who were absolutely focused on the right things and Could solve any design problem you threw at them. Titles don’t matter – experience, focus, professionalism, humility, and a willingness to learn is key (and i believe that’s not just true of UX professionals, but all professions).
UX professionals need to know the domain they are working in but also must bring their own “tools of the trade” to the job – the ability to focus on the user, to identify what they need or want, and to evaluate and design solutions that a company can provide to these users. It’s not much more complicated than that, though the tactics and processes we bring to the table are often much more detailed than the essence of what we do.
Feel free to hire and train, but I’d advice you open yourself up and reach out to more user experience designers to get a better sense of both the domain and what they can provide. You may find the right person and hopefully get a better sense of how UX design, applied, can save or make your organization money and help make your customers happy. You may also meet more of the same type of people you have already encountered (as well as some who are unfortunately very pretentious about what they provide) – move past those and get a solid professional.