[3pt14159]

Though I agree with you in spirit, in practice there are such things as actual shortages. Petroleum engineers in countries that just discovered oil for the first time, for example. Some skills take almost a decade to acquire.

Web development does not generally fall under this umbrella, however.

[collyw]

Most apps are web based these days.

Knowing how to write a complex web app with decent structured maintainable clean code, keep it optimized and secure, the ability to deploy it to to servers at the touch of a button isn't something I would expect from a junior dev.

[3pt14159]

Of course not, but you can get there in a year or three.

[collyw]

I wouldn't expect it from a dev of 3 years either. There may be a few out there but its not the norm.

[fsloth]

"Some skills take almost a decade to acquire."

This. So very much this.

[jazzyk]

Depends on the area of Web development. "At least 5 years of experience in ReactJS required".

Software companies always look for people with the latest fad ^H^H^H skill, which is - almost by definition - in short supply.