When I left in 2013 there was certainly not the plethora of opportunities there are now. There were opportunities to go and get jet time but they involved a sacrifice, in my case going to the arse end of Europe and flying for peanuts. It paid off though and within 18 months I was back in the UK, Airbus rated with lots of time on type and it made everything worthwhile. When times change from the current recruitment "boon", no you're probably not going to walk into a well paid jet job in the UK but those days have gone forever anyway. It will involve looking elsewhere for opportunities but you're wrong to say that those opportunities simply won't exist for Dash drivers. It will probably involve a move out of your comfort zone, which is something that I got the impression many in the redundancy turmoil of early 2013 simply weren't willing to contemplate.
I can only echo, however, the sentiments regarding Flybe before the January announcement of three years ago. A simply wonderful place to work with opportunities for a great lifestyle. If the archangel Gabriel came down now and told me "Rex you can go back to Flybe with things exactly how they were but the company will be stable and profitable and it will never change but you must stay there until retirement" I would happily give up my long haul ambitions right now and go back. You can't put a price on being at home with a fantastic lifestyle and that's what Flybe offered for so many. People accepted the lower level of pay in order to fly their 500 hours a year and work with their friends. Sadly, as soon as the hatchet plan to retrench the company around the "superbases" of Manchester, Birmingham and Southampton reared its ugly head, the job changed out of all recognition. You had the guys who wanted to receive their lower remuneration to work at home for Flybe now scattered to places in the UK they never wanted to be and flying 900 hours a year on the dash.
2013 was a horrible turn of events and reality check for the people in the outlying bases (and even for the guys in the big bases) and the company will never be the same again. Ultimately I realise my post has given kind of conflicting opinions regarding going to Flybe regarding the career implications of the dash against the conditions at the company but it's best to have the full picture. If you're a young guy cutting your teeth in aviation there aren't many better aircraft to do it on than the dash at Flybe. Lots of visuals (unless they've banned them again) and plenty of opportunity to hand pole to your heart's content. It's not a long term proposition though and have a carefully constructed exit plan.