Not sure why it is not mentioned enough in media coverage, but one big reason of the H1B visa shortage is the mass applications from consultancy companies (all I know are Indian based, but there might be more). There was a report that these consultancies have about 25% - 33% H1Bs quota each year. They are the ones who get large margin by paying employees cheap, even though on paper these employees could get much higher from "customer companies". And you know how they work? My friend spent 2 weeks at a consultancy, and they gave her some projects to MEMORIZE while they were polishing her resume. They have bunch of customers, so one memorizing can be used for many interviews! True story. The government should fix this first!