Not really. An H1B employee easily transfer their visa to another company and start working even before receiving approval.

But there's L1B employment... that actually binds you to a company.

Its not easy as it sounds. Its not a transfer per say, its a new petition. Recently premium processing was stopped. Many H1B transfers were in limbo. If an employee transfers when he has I-140, his greencard process might get jeopardized. There are many quirks for an employee to change his employers. Many employers will not allow an employee to join unless his petition is approved. This is also good for the employee, because there are high chances that an H1B transfer can go wrong. So no, its not easy.

That aspect was ameliorated slightly this year with a 60 day grace period after loss of employment. https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-publishes-fin....

Only applicable for an approved I-140 employee. That will be a slight relief though.

I can empathize with your H-1B remark (been there) but I don't think you got the subtext of what "owning a person" meant.

What he meant there is employees=sheep (mostly), contractors=wolves (mostly).

H-1B or not, most employees will put up with a lot more than contractors.

That is why I rephrased the quote.