There is a window of "talent arbitrage", usually ages 22-28, where a company can get more out of an employee in hours and skill-to-work ratio than they have to pay that employee. H1B expands that arbitrage even further, and allows it to last longer. I think the concept is overrated, but many MBA-type managers are fixated on realizing that advantage. The pressure on public companies to "make the numbers" is immense in these times - most of them aren't places one really wants to be looking for work at any age.
It should be much easier than it is for IT workers to sell their services as independent consultants. Blame laws passed by unions (who are afraid their members are going to get reclassified as as independent contractors and denied benefits) and the IT consulting industry, who managed to get a section inserted in the tax code which virtually prohibits IT people (but no one else) from working on a 1099 basis.
There's a lot to be said for young smart guys.