I can't get a job doing what I've done for 17 years, never mind a job that I have no experience for. You think one can just walk into a company's HR department and demand a job?
2. I consistantly find positions not filled internally because many companies have realized that the internal route causes too many inbred problems.
80% of the managers that I have worked for had come up the ranks from within the company. The ones that were hired from outside the company had significant experience in management.
3. Although I do see many H-1 employees out there, I have experience at many major firms and have yet to see an H-1 in a management position.
The founder of the last company I worked for was from India. At the last interview I was on (in 2001), 3 out of the 5 people I interviewed with were foreign nationals. One Chinese national had such a thick accent I couldn't understand half of what he said.
I not saying there are none out there, but I'm not seeing that trend.
You might be more in the Information Technology segment. On the engineering side of the fence, foreign managers aren't only common, but prevalent. As an aside, I took a 50% pay cut to get into this industry 10 years ago, I do not have a tech degree and I am more than doubling everyone on that list except for the Pharmacist.
After 17 years you must have a great deal of business knowledge that is marketable and you can leverage. I have been on both sides of the fence so please don't think I am being condescending, I’m just trying to be helpful.
Oops, that part of your post was off my edit window. To respond to that part of your post, as you say that was 10 years ago. I'd gladly take a 75% cut in pay to get back to work, but there's virutally nobody hiring in my field. And the companies can be EXTREMELY picky about who they hire, as they receive hundreds if not thousands of resumes from highly qualified individuals for every position they announce.