Not all H1-b visa holders are programmers. A good chunk of them are actually IT workers with specializations like implementing SAP, PeopleSoft etc ERP packages. Same for Database administrators. Even bigger than this list is the number of people engaged in maintaining some godforsaken legacy MIS or such software at a huge corporation.
While these jobs might not appeal to a hacker or a good computer science graduate, there are just too many such jobs. Most H1-b aspirants are quite happy to take them.
About the H1-b visas for foreign students at US universities, I think it is a good idea, though not at the numbers listed in the article. I think 30-40000 H1-b visas
for students graduating from US universties should be good enough to cater for the niche companies like Microsoft, Google etc. Imagine a Stanford or MIT graduate go away from US because he cannot work here? While not all students at MIT or Stanford is a foreigner, those who are there still have to apply from the same pool of H1-b visas which is open to just about any one.
While these jobs might not appeal to a hacker or a good computer science graduate, there are just too many such jobs. Most H1-b aspirants are quite happy to take them.
About the H1-b visas for foreign students at US universities, I think it is a good idea, though not at the numbers listed in the article. I think 30-40000 H1-b visas for students graduating from US universties should be good enough to cater for the niche companies like Microsoft, Google etc. Imagine a Stanford or MIT graduate go away from US because he cannot work here? While not all students at MIT or Stanford is a foreigner, those who are there still have to apply from the same pool of H1-b visas which is open to just about any one.