Jedy- You are beginnng to to see how it really is! I think particularly for an FO it is NOT a good deal. People that joined before December last year did not lose the additional amount for recurrent training either! What seems to be happening is that they are gradually "ratcheting down" the conditions for each group of new contracts. Many of the permanent FO's I have flown with lately are unhappy with the way they are treated by the company and they have generally better treatment than contract FO's!
A year or so ago when Ryanair was making huge profits they came up with the idea of using contractors to give them flexibility and also to reduce the chance of any strong industrial groupings evolving amongst the pilot group. The ORIGINAL pay rates related to the real cost of employing aircrew- offsetting adminstration and other costs but still with a financial benefit to Ryanair NOT the pilots. Since then they have gradually been attempting to take away a little bit at a time-- almost in proportion to the reduced profitability of the airline as more and more competition from other operators occurred. This is an airline like no other I have ever experienced-- there is very little support to an individual and the more vulnerable staff (i.e. more junior) are often bullied by management who follow the aggressive policies of senior management.
In terms of experience gained in a given time this can be a valuable learning tool for anyone wanting to gain a command but fewer and fewer pilots see the airline as a long term employer-- just a step on the way!