It's not a path in the most pedantic term, but if I were born in China or India, the usual path is

1. do masters in the US

2. work on OPT until I am fortunate enough to be picked in H1B lottery, or until my OPT runs out, whichever comes first

3. IF I get picked in H1B lottery, apply for PR

4. wait 4-8 years for my category to be current

5. eventually get PR

short of an investor visa, marrying someone who is a citizen, qualifying for EB1, or applying from abroad and waiting 10 years, how else do I get a green card?

More like 8-12 years, if you switch a job without getting a I-140 approved and 12+, if you switch jobs and GC process gets reset for each job change.

This isn't fully correct. For most Canadians, for example, the H1B is the stepping stone between the TN (a nonresident-only status) and EBX. You can certainly get an employment based visa on a TN, but the process is complicated, has many rules and restrictions, and is just a whole lot more simple with a H1B.

It's possible yes. But I think Canada is a special case considering all the special rules that exist between the US and Canada.

An H1B may be "simpler", but considering the lottery stats it's far from being a given. I surely am glad I got mine a while ago before the H1B program became so crazy, with the CAP being reached in literally hours.

1 in 3 (last year) or 1 in 4 (this year) isn't too horrible when you have a few years to apply before they stop issuing TN(/OPT) extensions. That said, you could get crazy unlucky and not get it each time, in which case, that would really suck. You do have other avenues at that point at some companies, like going the L-1 route, but you'd still have to move.

Sorry, I misspoke. You are right about it not being a "path" to permanent residence in any legal sense, and I definitely agree that it's not a humane or fair type of visa.

OTOH, in my (limited) experience, I have worked closely with a total of 4 H1B employees, and at least 3 of them are now permanent residents or citizens. I can't speak to the overall frequency of this happening, but that's my anecdata.

I don't disagree that de facto it makes it easier to have a company sponsor you since they know who are a good worker. I just wanted to point out that in regards to the GC application it has no influence.

Do you happen to know if all your co-workers got their residency through employment ?

I only know one H1B who is attempting to get a GC through her company, she started the process 3 years ago and is not done yet.

H-1B status itself doesn't lead to a green card, but it's much more difficult to get a company to go through the 1+ year process of sponsoring an immigrant worker petition (which does lead to a green card) if you're not able to work for them during that time.

I completely agree. As I said in another response, it is de facto easier to find a company willing to invest in the GC application if they know you're a good employee. But it doesn't not simplify/expedite the GC application at all.