>And I don't think we have a surplus of engineers in the country, judging by what I perceive to be the gap in talent between china and US, and the moaning by tech about the need for H1B

Why take that at face value? Its generally used for wage suppression[0][1] by big companies (not only in tech) and due to how its structured, creates an unhealthy power balance between employers and H1B employees

[0]: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-024-05823-8

[1]: https://www.paularnesen.com/blog/the-h-1b-visa-corporate-ame...