Here in LA, Sr. Java developers with 10+ yrs experience, W2 contract rate is around $45-50/hr nowadays (it used to be $75-80/hr just a few years ago so it’s dropped over 40%!!)…that is with NO benefits whatsoever. Too many H1b visa candidates who are desperate and will accept anything so contract rates are low. Perm jobs on the other hand are around 110-115k because for perm it’s a big hassel to hire H1b candidates… and usually perm jobs require residency or citizenship.

H1b candidates exploit a hole in the system by allowing a middleman to hold their visa so the contracting company doesn’t have to deal with the visa issues of proving that an American is not available etc. This is technically illegal but most I know work this way, the immigration system is totally broken and there is no enforcement of these violations. It really hurts the American IT workers big time.

perm jobs are few and far between now, mostly low rate contracts 🙁