Extending the duration based on a poor job market would certainly more accommodating to the people on H1-B visas who are between work, but I think it works against the stated purpose of the program.

The H1-B program is designed* to provide labor force supplementation when no citizens/permanent residents can be found to fill a given position.

In a prolonged recession, I'd expect the median time to find a job to go up substantially, but also for the argument that "we can't find any permanent residents to fill this position" to be substantially weakened.

* - at least ostensibly.

I mean yes, but there should be some incentive to keep the H1B workers that are already in the country, and have been in american workforce for a few years.

Considering barriers to actually interviewing and assessing someone who is abroad, and how long it takes for someone to actually get a brand-new H1B and move to the US, 60 days just does not seem like incentive enough.

Besides what is the downside of allowing people to remain longer? They don’t have access to majority of benefits citizens get, yet they pay same (but also due to highly skilled job nature much higher taxes)?