The answer two above is often trotted out, but it isn’t really accurate.
Firstly, it isn’t a case of which method is cheaper since the modular is nearly always going to be cheaper. It was designed to be just that, At the end of the day you get the same licence and if you want to hold it aloft and show everybody then go the cheapest route every single time! I will sell you my bit of paper if you like, it comes with 25,000 hours attached and you can have it for a tenner! As a bit of paper it is worthless. I have the same driving licence as Lewis Hamilton but God knows I can’t get Mercedes Petronas to give me the time of day.
Secondly, “Cadet” doesn’t usually mean “low hour commercial pilot” It is normally a formal apprenticeship programme into Airline flying offered by specific airlines with such a programme. Most of those programmes require you to attend a full time course of approved (and integrated) training at recognised training establishments. That is where the cost differential arises. These schools are not “scams” but they are usually very expensive and as always there are no guarantees of seamless employment at the end of them even outside of a global industry crisis.
The idea that a fresh CPL holder is going to be just what airlines are looking for, is a fallacy. Airlines are usually looking for the best experience for the least cost. If you can find someone who’s experience enables you to have them producing revenue for the company in the shortest amount of time for the least input cost, then you have likely made a good business decision. Low hour pilots are very intensive on training costs and where cadet programmes are utilised that is offset by both an assurance as to the cadets training provenance (you real want to be familiar with their training heritage,) and the bulk of the training cost risk being placed on the candidate. Even then, the majority of successful applicants are likely to be pilots with good and relevant experience on their CV’s. Don't be hoodwinked into believing that it is a level playing field, because it isn’t. A typical 250 hour CPL holder is not what makes Airline recruiters eyes light up. Again, be sure to understand what is meant by the term “cadet.”
Over the last 40 years I have worked for 2 airlines with very strong cadet programmes. Nearly all of the successful applicants came through the recognised integrated training models. In the last decade, a significant proportion were MPL “cadets” and that is by its very nature a full time integrated course with further integration between the airline and the training school.
Having said that, and as you already appreciate, the air transport industry has been turned on its head. There are a lot of casualties in all walks of life but specifically in this one. For the last 9 months economies are on life support with eye watering sums of fiduciary money being pumped into keeping those same economies afloat. Paying down these borrowings is going to take a great deal longer than 9 months. If, back in February, without a pandemic there had been a global contraction of 10% to this industry, it would have sent its own shockwaves into the marketplace. Now a rebound (when it eventually comes) is likely to still result in a marketplace significantly weaker than just a 10% downturn. The question everybody wants to know is how long, and nobody can do other than speculate on the answer to that.
Ten years ago, one of my own children completed a full time course of integrated training and they have worked (now as a Captain) ever since graduating. Like everything, time results in evolution and you have to approach the market cautiously and realistically. My advice (and that is all it can ever be) is to keep your powder dry. By all means do a PPL and better yourself wherever the opportunity arises, but do not make any high risk investments without a much clearer vision of where the future market better lies.
Good luck!