From where I'm sitting, having worked with someone here on an H1-B visa in 2001 at Lucent who was more qualified for the job than I who was paid $45K to my $80K, as someone who has acquaintances at e.g. HP who were laid off along with a bunch of other older employees, who then found HP advertising for an H1-B replacement for his job, I'd say it's very clear that this is exactly one of the things the mechanism is intended for, given the number of visas issued each year and the constant proposals to drastically increase them. It's telling that Ted Cruz, the best for reducing immigration Republican candidate for President in the 2016 election, wants to increase H1-Bs to 300K a year (everyone else in both parties wants to open the floodgates to all).