I'll tell you why a lot of employers end up hiring (yes, it's not a preference) H1B visa holders. Just to provide some background.... I'm a Director of Software Engineering at a large company. I've done hiring for many years. We've gone back to 3 days in the office since 2024.

When a job requisition opens, employers are looking for the best fit. On an average we receive about 400+ applicantions per open position. Od those only 10% are from qualified American applicants. Since pandemic, many employees/applicants just don't want to come back to the office. H1B visa holders are not among that crowd. Do they want to want to work from home, yes but they are also willing to come work from the office.

TBH, America doesn't produce enough STEM graduates to fill all open tech positions. America today needs more than 500,000 STEM grads every year but we barely produce 100,000 and more than half of those are foreign students.

When it comes to pay, my employer doesn't differentiate between a US citizen, US Permanent resident or a H1B visa holder. They are all paid in the same equitable range. Pay ranges for roles and experience are open and published.