In Cuba often tourist dollars greatly outstrip the local economy. So you're ending up with a situation where qualified doctors are moving in to tourism - waiters, doormen - to earn more money.
[1] Of course there were people with the old cars, but these were passed down and are, as I understand it, required by law to act as a mini-bus service.
[2] Although internet in Cuba is only officially available by buying a hourly code on a scratcher card from the telephone company and then Wifi is in the parks in Havana, I did notice bootleg Wifi SSIDs when walking the streets. They were easy to spot even without "war-walking" since they are a good 1/2 km from any nearby park and had usually a dozen folks on their phones browsing Facebook or using Skype. I suspect it's either an insider connection at the telephone company OR a clandestine Directway / Hughesnet satellite (there are NO visible dishes in Cuba, I believe it must be illegal).
A quick Google turned up a few articles: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-04-17/news/950417013... (1995, but there are other sources).
Doctors and other higher ed degrees tend to have a strong English component, which is a plus in the tourist industry.
It's possible that they are all lying, but the staff said it and the official gov welcomer said it, so it's likely true.
Visit Cuba and talk to people. The barman, the taxi driver, the bellhop, the waiter can easily earn in a day's tips in hard currency, over a month's wages in local currency, especially if they speak good English. It was the same in Russia when the USSR imploded. The chances were your taxi driver in Moscow had a physics PhD and had quit or was moonlighting from their official job in a research institute...