Every airline has hundreds of applications on their books but they are all from the same pool of pilots. The number of suitable applicants is much smaller and will be taken up by more desirable employers. Airnorth have probably found that their shortlist has thinned out considerably once they started calling people, very few pilots will bother to inform companies they have previously applied to that they have found other jobs and want to withdraw their applications.
The bigger regionals are better set up when it comes to bringing low timers up to standard, Airnorth would probably be used to dealing with someone who has a few years experience on twins already and slots in easily.
Similar operators in other countries without a large GA sector have managed to deal with new joiners with zero experience. Australian regionals may have to start doing the same and bring their pay levels up if they want to compete for a declining number of applicants.