New hiring was not a rumor. It was reported on murthy.com as well as a few got similar hints from the IIOs. But it was before the resignation of Mr. Ziglar, the then INS commissioner. Also, not necessarily all new employees would work for I-485. Anyway, there seems some mixed signals judging from new approvals and RFEs. Sometimes it seems that INS is causing as much trouble as they legally could by dubious interpretation of AC21 and salary differences, etc. Also, average adjudication time has risen from 8 months earlier to upto 14 months now. I wish AILA should bring these issues to the INS during one of the next period meetings with INS. Few care for the aspiring immigrants though.
Best wishes,
Jigesh