"Stlhead ,I just read an article about Microsoft and thier need for so many visas, the guy in the interview said it was because they could not fill the positions in the local area and would be happy to do so if the qualified people were available. Guess he must have been just giving lip service to the situation. "

Yes lip service. It's Bill Gates's annual lobbying to have the cap lifted on H1B visas so they can import foreigners who work for less and are a form of slave labor. If an H1B visa holder loses his job he is deported. That's a big hold on an employee that they don't have over a citizen. Also, the big outsourcing companies like to cycle the H1B visas. Meaning they send a different person each time. That person learns at Microsoft and goes back to India and teaches to others on a paid for by Microsoft campus. Where's the big Microsoft teaching institution here? Why doesn't Microsoft invest in our Universities if it want's talent? Salaries are now rising in India so what happens? Russia, Poland, China but no investment in rearing US talent. Why? All about the bottom line and, yes, lip service.