I think H-1Bs have always been good for big companies like IBM, Google and Infosys and bad for startups. I mean, at a certain size, many of your hires are key employees and winning the lottery is not a business plan. To big co's though workers are fungible and if only 20% of the people win you can still open an office in Bangalore or Shanghai and tap foreign talent that way.

I am no fan of the H-1B program and think we should do something else like give out more green cards. I am happy to 'compete' with them if they are getting paid market rates like me, in fact working together with talented people puts my skills on wheels. I have known so many H-1Bs who were treated terribly, like the kind of situations that make HR staff quit.