Still looking for that first job myself, but I would assume that the days of self funded type ratings will not change overnight.
Companies may be having difficulty finding the calibre of pilots they are after (reading into what scroggs said) , but there are still plenty of unemployed wannabees in the system. These are the people they will have to recruit whether or not they meet the ideal standard (wait for lavatory gag...). That is (in my uninformed opinion) a separate issue as to whether or not that same person will have to pay for a rating. One is dictated by number of applicants, the other by costs.
In the big picture this may change to encourage more people to begin training if a shortage (ha ha
) occurs - but I think I will have had to pay for my rating with my first company long before then
- Or if I haven't then I'll be asking if you want fries with that!
