<p>As a working professional with an H1B let me refute your post.</p>
<p>
Wrong. We can change jobs with no penalty. In fact, I just changed jobs at the end of last year. I’ve never felt like a slave.</p>
<p>
Not always. There are thousands of H-1B working in reputed firms on Wall Street, as well as top tech companies. (Google, MS, Goldman, etc). We go through the exact same application and interview process as anyone else. If anything it is tougher to get a job as an H-1B, given the visa limits and the cost incurred to the employer.</p>
<p>My belief is there are several major types of people working as H-1Bs:</p>
<p>1) People who did their undergrad/grad degrees in the US and sought work after completion of their studies. I fall into this category. </p>
<p>2) Overseas consultants, who got contract-to-hire offers into a US company. These are mostly highly skilled people with good educational background.</p>
<p>3) Outsourcing firms who have large business contracts with major US corporations. This category is what people usually talk about when talking about “H1Bs”. These are mostly IT and technical personnel who are hired by an outsourcing firm in a low-cost country, and continue to work in the US for that foreign outsourcing firm under a contract with a US company.</p>