I have previously stated it might be a good idea to continue or even start your training to be ready in a couple of years but now (in true no !!!!! Sherlock style ) I'd like to say that is of course no longer a good idea. You're looking at a minimum of 5 years right now for low experience pilot jobs to re-emerge across the entire world, possibly longer.
I've been preaching for years that a back up career in aviation is important but equally important is to practice that skill during your flying years by taking up part time opportunities and networking with those in that field. NB: It's easier than you think. For me it was luck that I fell into mine before I ever flew a jet. Later on, various redundancies and gaps in contract aviation employment enabled me to flip flop between the two roles. Turns out this awful luck was a blessing in disguise.
Right now, I am a very fortunate person to even have a flying job (no pay cut expected) but that could change very quickly. I'm ready to go back to my previous career in case.
Going forward no college or uni graduate should even consider this most fragile of careers without having a solid grounding in another field. Basically, you're asking for it if the only thing you've done prior to flying is to flip a burger or stack a shelf. A job should be something you enjoy doing but as the modern climate will testify it's also about food on the table. Sadly, the best job in the world doesn't come with much of a safety net. The vast majority of pilots I know right now cannot sustain the lifestyles they built up and a captain I know is starting work with Asda next week. Sure every industry is feeling the pinch but aviation will always suffer the biggest and deepest pain for any given disaster.
Globalisation is the reason behind aviation's success. It creates jobs, more opportunity. But it also makes the world more susceptible to danger, especially as the population grows with more and more bad variables coming into play. Sustained long term growth is therefore unlikely from here on. The bubble will always burst before it gets bigger than what it was at the beginning of the year.
One of my boys wants to fly when he grows older. And so I will try my absolute best to make sure he practices what I'm preaching.
All the best