H1-Bs

Was having a chat with my manager recently about H1-Bs and fast they are being used up. I was in US in December and found that the quota for the new year (starting October) has been exhausted already! That's only two months! It seems that it is easier for larger companies hire with H1-B since they are allocated a batch of them which is also used as soon as they recieved them (they normally accumulated a backlog of new hires waiting for the visa). Considering that the quota is only 65,000 for 2005 and that H1-B are used across all tech industries, it is very easily reached by the appetite of the US economy. Big companies like Microsoft, and Amazon really need the visas to fill up their new positions or refill turnover positions. Alternatives are to hire Canadians, Mexicans, and recently Australians where special work visas are available.
For small companies or startup, they are more reluctant to hire people that require visa sponsorship as there is a overhead cost for applications, and the high delay before the new hire can start work. Also small companies are less likely to sponsor green cards as it is also quite high in cost ($5000 application fee + lawyer cost).

It was lucky for me as the E-3 visa for Australians have just taken effect when I wanted to work in US. The cost for the visa is just a normal visa application fee (~$100-200) compared to the cost for H1-B ($500-1000). The speed for the application and paperwork is also quite fast - took me only about 1 month from getting an offer to starting work. However, I think your company's name, lawyers, and your qualifications will take a difference in how fast you can get the visa stamped.

Some people will argue against giving out visa to protect local jobs, but the problem is that there are limited local talents compared to large number of demand for them -- and there are limited talented people who are willing to relocate. The result is that you either rocket up the salaries (increasing turnovers), or you hire mediocre people - compromise your competitiveness, or you satisfy some demand from foreign talents. If you look at the salaries, and the cost companies are willing to endure to relocate them to US ($10k+ easily for the visa applicatons, lawyers, rentals etc), they are serious about getting in talented people. For jobs that does not need talented people, they are outsourced to India!