@Contact approach: Of course everything needs to be paid, so maybe the idea is that people think if they have the funds for it before choosing an enjoyable job (that require extremely costly training) that they know lots of others also want to perform. Its the law of supply and demand. Jobs that are unpleasant or like a never ending chore do not have the same supply of people willing to perform them and therefore have to be paid much higher if the employer is to get someone to perform it. Sometimes people even do those jobs so they can spend the money on something they enjoy like flying for example if they do not have other sources of income that can finance their passions.
If people thought about it before going for it then the supply would be much lower and then maybe the salaries would be like people wish, but if people keep following their dream without having the funds for it then the supply will be endless and without the demand going up the salaries will ofc go down. What can you expect if there are people all out of money who "followed the dream" and have only their fATPL in hand or maybe even debt. Those people will always be endless supply for any airline and if demand goes down some will even pay to keep their ratings. All the other non pilot crew can also perform their jobs at other employers than airlines without losing their qualifications so they will always be paid or else they just go.
As for people who are extremely good at flying its their passion they are the best of the best but do not have funds for it in case the market is bad, well they can always check how much the best they are at the military instead of taking loans for civilian training there in most countries the best of the best always get to fly and get paid (yes nepotism is also present in militaries but its another topic and does not take up all spots). Its like with sport (just worse because safe operation do not require someone to be the best in the world or top 100) the talented people get paid training, the rest would be crazy to follow the dream without funds hoping to become a pro. If someone do not have the necessary talent to pass military check before flight training for free, maybe they should think about it if they have the funds to follow their hobby because if they do not well it is where the supply chain starts and how it ends with what it is. And it will not change unless 1 of 2 things happen, medicore people without funds stop starting their I want to be a professional pilot career by bank loans (imagine someone starting their I want to be professional F1 driver with bankloan) or the demand for flights become so high all over the world that there actually are spots for ALL (if someone good enough is left outside there will always be that someone willing to do the job cheaper to get someone elses spot) good enough medicore pilots in the cockpit. In contrast to sport it is not a competition so professional medicore pilot who can guarantee 100 % safe operation will always be preferred for half price by the business owners, they wont pay double for "skygod" if its not required for safe operation and they will not wish to make the selection so hard that only "skygods" can pass it since the airline owners interest is to keep supply high.