I happened to come across this thread whilst surfing around! I am a reasonably senior easyJet training captain and have worked here for nearly 20 years. I have nothing whatsoever to do with recruitment but, hopefully, I have some idea of what goes on here. Let me try and provide a slightly more balanced perspective, that I hope is from a position of actual knowledge, rather than rumour. EasyJet is not a perfect airline, but next to a national carrier, is about as good as you get in the airline industry. It is genuinely a great place to work and there are very few people who do not enjoy working here. Yes, you have to pay for a type rating, but the pay is fairly reasonable in comparison with other companies and the promotion prospects are excellent.
It is undoubtedly true that we have actively tried to recruit female pilots, but that’s because we had so few of them. Also, we have an increasing number of non-white pilots, but that is a good thing in my view and reflects the demographics of the society in which we live. That said, the overwhelming majority of people I end up training are young white males. To therefore suggest that you have an infinitely greater chance of being selected if you call yourself Linda, instead of Fred, is simply rubbish.
We are currently losing a lot of pilots to the likes of Virgin, British Airways and Emirates. It is clearly the case that we cannot offer long haul or different aircraft types. There are also a few pilots leaving to Jet2, but that’s mainly for geographical reasons that are hard to argue with. Is easyJet, perfect? Absolutely not. However, there are very few companies that are as good to work for as easyJet, for all its faults. We have a very good training system and an excellent safety culture. Also, we are very heavily unionised, which brings with it a huge number of protections. My personal observation would be that a number of people who have left us over the years, if they had their time again, would not have done so. If you go to any airline looking to be miserable, then you will fulfil your ambition very quickly. If you come with a positive attitude, you will find this is about the best places in the industry to be.