@focalist... Depends on where you live and how you read "skilled" (the term used by OP).
Where I live, it is quite common to do unpaid/low paid internships (yes, in plural) for a few months at a time - either as part of an education or immediately following one. There
are just too many highly skilled students and qualified fashion designers around and
simply not enough jobs. Only after a couple of years doing that (for some it is easier than
for others) are you considered a professional (i.e. more than just skilled in how to use the
tools and how to deal with the various types of fabric).
I'm sure the world of programming is completely different and I'm sure that there are places
in the world where this doesn't hold to be true, but here (Scandinavia) it is really nothing out
of the extraordinary...
-tweakieDee