Did all this come about because of a tax break for businesses that moved
jobs off shore?

They government does make it attractive to outsource, but the real reason is
the bottom line. A company can hire an H1B for 1/3 of what they used to pay
us and they can outsource to India for even less.

Most of my friends in the software consulting business are either barely
making ends meet on a fraction of what they were making two years ago or
have made a career change....which is what I did.

Ross