Resumen
In 1998, for the Second Consecutive year, the U.S. quota of 65,000 H-IB visas for temporary employment of foreign workers with technical skills was exhausted before the end of the fiscal year. Leaders from many technology industries conducted a vigorous lobbying campaign in 1998 that resulted in legislation raising the quota to 115,000 for fiscal years 1999 and 2000 even the expanded quota was used up to six months into the year. Legislation was subsequently passed in 2000 to expand the quota to 195,000 for the following three years. The demand for information technology (IT) professionals in the U.S. is occurring at the same time that other developed countries are experiencing similar shortages and when developing countries need their IT workers to support infrastructure creation, new industrial efforts and government programs. Meanwhile, the ability of the U.S. to attract foreign workers reflects an unprecedented mobility in the world wide market for IT professionals in which government policies reinforce or hinder the competitiveness of a country's firms and economy.