I think that US Congress should address GC backlogs first before increasing H1B limit. As far as, H1B and pay difference is concerned, I do not beleive that there is wide spread problem. I have not seen my self. H1B is good program to attract telent at very minimal cost. We should understand that US education system is saving lot of money by getting educated people from abroad. It makes economic sense because H1B folks are not using US resources to learn technologies and forgien gov's are paying the bill.
IIT, Best Engineering schools in India are subsidized by Indian Gov and most of those folks end up at Intel, Yahoo and other places.
I do not understand why people are so worried about losing there jobs to folks with H1B when unemployement rate is at all time low(4.4%).
Someone, who is unfortunately lost his/her job should not have any problem getting employed again. I guess people are having hard time to digest globalization. Talent pool is global now and everyone is at risk of losing thier job. We have to work hard and be on top of our game to survive else someone sitting in China, India or whereever is going to eat our lunch..

Welcome to globalization folks.

Ajay

In answer to both Messrs. Fox, Sullivan and Ajay: We have VERY competent, American-born, American-educated, American-trained programmers sitting at home (or walking the streets) looking for a job that will pay the rent and groceries. Foreign-born, Foreign-educated, Foreign-trained programmers are NOT of the same quaity. (Personal opinion after having worked with hundreds of them.)

Yes, I know how that sounds, but Dell, Apple and others have experienced first hand that parts assembly is about all that they can entrust to foreign shops. Call centers in foreign lands do NOT understand USA idiomatic language. I've been all over the world and I don't understand all of the idioms used here.

Unemployment % rate is at an all-time low BECAUSE most American-born-educated-trained programmers have either accepted really low paying jobs to pay the rent or they have simply rolled off of the unemployment rolls. Long, long ago I went into foreign employment at what I thought was a high rate of pay, $600 per month plus 61% OPA plus overtime plus bonuses when my best job here in the South was about $450 per month - period. Little did I know that my Northern counterparts from NYC and LA were getting $900 to $1,100 per month. And that was what it took to have a family and travel overseas at that time. (A really long time ago.) So, when someone from India or China tells me that $50K per year with 2 weeks vacation and 1 week sick leave is a really good salary, well, what can you say? I guess we'll have to wait until they find out and either go back home or get a raise. But, considering, the short-sighted American middle management, that might be never.

Now, what is the REAL down side to hiring foreign-born workers to fill the low-level jobs that native-born Americans want and need? Simple: This is the starting place right out of high school or right out of college jobs that are being taken. When these jobs go to foreing-born workers, our own American-born workers have no place to plant and grow their skills. The foreign-born workers get the starting jobs, then the middle jobs, then grow (on American tax payer money) up to the management jobs and hire everyone from their own home town. Don't tell me it doesn't happen - I've seen it first hand over and over and over again.

And I am not impressed with the IIT graduates from India. But, then, I'm not impressed with most USA graduates either. But at least I can understand the American-born graduates. I am impressed with the German guys - most of them. The French, Spanish, Mexican, South Amerian and English guys expect way too much salary and benefits for way too little output.

If India or China or wherever is so nice, then STAY there and grow your own economy. We don't need help destroying ours. And we started destroying it WAY back when the American automakers decided to go with Japanese steel that was 5% or 10% cheaper than American steel, even with transportation costs rolled in. Now they are being hoisted on their own petards.

Final shot: Germany, Sweden, England, France and Spain are all making a push to hire native personnel FIRST. You have to have a really, really good reason to hire an American or Indian. I lost a couple of jobs because of that but I applaud them for their position. Jolly good show, chaps!

SDG
Yaakov Kohen