1099s were the biggie to flood construction with illegals......Americans soon had to go along just to compete...
Treating each person as a sub put the burden of taxes and workers comp on the individual, to be paid end of the year as opposed to the "company" paying and withholding, making any "company using 1099s 30 to 40% cheaper than legit companies who didn't follow suit...
The other option is just pay the crew under the table (cash) and change company names if the irs should happen to catch up...
Ask me how I know ;)
This country has lost two generations of tradesmen and countless dollars in taxes but got a lot of cheap labor that will work 70 hrs a week...