I hear where you are coming from sidestickdude. I understand the frustration of your situation - been there too, and like you also, was not willing to buy a type rating. Good on you.
I really do think that the jet hours requirement thing is a bit of a hang over from days gone by, whereby the jet requirement was a means of reducing the pile of apps that some boffin has to wade through. Todays modern and heavy(ish) fast(ish) T/props do lend themselves more to modern airline ops than the likes of HS748's and F 27's of a few years back.
To be fair, some operators are now willing to consider what they call 'heavy' turbo prop time, usually standardised at 20 tonne, although not really sure what type that typifies. Cathay Freight for example ie command on heavy T/prop. Others are starting to realise that by considering jet experience only, they are ignoring a large slice of whats on the market.
I know, it seems mindless, but to consider a young buck that has bought his way into the right seat and accumulated the princely sum of 1500 hours or so of watching the FMC/FMGS do its magic, is somehow going to be a better proposition than the guy that has earned his seat and bashed around for the last 5/6/7000 hours, alot of it in command, carrying 50 or 70 pax in the same piece of airspace....blah blah blah
sidestickthumper - don't mean you patronise you, and I'm sure you hear it all the time, but a lot of boys and girls have been in your situation, and it always seems bleak, but someday, it will change for you. Just keep all options open and consider everything. You will more than likely have to go back to the right seat but that is the joy of this marvellous industry is it not! By the way, are you prepared to go offshore?
Took me 7000ish hours. In retrospect, a bit of an anti climax too...Hang in there.