My comment at WSJ: A few people running staffing firms had gotten into legal trouble recently. The staffing industry (a.k.a. "bodyshops", "desi consultancies"

My comment at WSJ: A few people running staffing firms had gotten into legal trouble recently. The staffing industry (a.k.a. "bodyshops", "desi consultancies" etc) overall are facing some serious heat from the USCIS and DOL this year. In my opinion, this is a huge factor contributing to the slow uptake of H-1B visas this year. Most discussions of H-1B employers surround two broad categories: 1) Big name tech firms in US - Microsoft, Google, Cisco etc 2) Indian outsourcing companies - Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Cognizant etc But the third important category of users are these staffing companies. They try to stay under the radar clinging on to the coat tails of Indian outsourcing companies by claiming to have big operations in India. But most of these firms have minimal, if any, presence in India. They are easy to identify too - their websites will have stock photographs of busy-looking professionals in business suits hunched over laptops, vacuous white papers on methodologies/delivery models/management frameworks, me-too vision statements etc. A few of these - Peri Soft, Worldwide, Vision Systems - have recently gotten into trouble with DOL; some of the business owners have even spent time behind the bars lately. This has had a chilling effect on the staffing industry, reducing the mad rush to get an H-1B petition filed on 1st April. The economy still not recovering also adds to the hesitation, but I think the firm enforcement actions of DOL, USCIS etc have been an equal contributor.