No offense at all to those in the US for H1-B, but too many citizens are unemployed or underemployed right this very second.
Yes, they do. They need to show proof of having advertised the job somewhere. At least, I've been through this process three times, with three different lawyers, and we've done it every time.
Exhaustive discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10969721
But note in particular that firms specialize in coaching companies on how to fake compliance with such laws:
story: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/businessnews/2007/06/21...
video proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU
Neither of those jobs actually meet immigration categories. If you want to hire someone through H1B you need to provide a job spec that is needlessly specific with exact skills checked off. The kind of job that, if you saw it, you'd think "I never want to work there, they list a job as if it's a checklist of acronyms!"
If Apple can attract the candidates and you can't, you're not offering enough money.
This is exactly the point about the "engineering shortage". If there is a shortage, salaries should be going up. Since salaries are not going up, there is, by definition, no shortage.
Also, you are not accounting for non tech professions. For example, fashion industry doesn't generally pay as well. Do you expect that none of them are granted an H1 in that case?
The solution is much more complex than you have laid out here..