SASless,
Apologies for misinterpreting your original question regarding pilots working overseas.
The reality within the 'world' off-shore game is salaries & conditions vary considerably. For instance, pilots flying for the bigger operators in the North Sea undoubtedly enjoy some of the best conditions within the industry both in terms of salaries and the fact that many of them are not required to tour. If you look at Africa, the salaries are again very competitive but the touring cycles can be problematic, security is often a concern not to mention malaria and other problems associated with living and working in a 3rd world country. The ME also offers competitive salaries but again the conditions under which you work may not suit everyone.
I can't stress enough that market forces ultimately determine what people get paid, based on the conditions they are required to endure and what individuals are willing to put up with. Australian salaries (within the off-shore game) are reasonably competitive if you weigh up all the pros and cons involved, such as political stability, medical access, touring cycles, cost of living etc. If on the other hand, you consider only money then Africa and the like would appear more appealing. When you take all these factors into account and then make an informed decision, you become the determinent of market forces.
With regards to the hiring of personnel by the bigger operators, the minimum criteria is 500 hours command (no turbine time required) and an IREX. The reality is slightly different however. They certainly don't get all their pilots from this in-experienced pool. Nor do they just hire experienced pilots to fill their vacancies. They prefer to take a mix of pilots in accordance with their requirements at the time. The reasons for this are many but perhaps the main one is you don't actually want a pilot body structure in place where everyone is of similar experience vying for a limited number of SFO and then ultimately Command slots. It would make for a very disgruntled workforce. If an operator needs a few FOs to remain as FOs for 4 or 5 years because of a glut of Commanders higher up, then it'll look for personnel that meet that criteria. The reverse would also be true with suitable candidates being 'fast tracked' through the seniority system for Command, that is, you'll achieve Command status before people above you on the seniority list.
The interesting question posed relates to how does the industry satisfy this demand? The comment made that the bigger operators will in fact train people as a last resort is true but it doesn't occur within Australia as far as I'm aware. Eventually market forces will determine how this occurs. Perhaps the industry as a whole will subsidise some of the costs. Perhaps when salaries increase above a certain threshold, the industry will appear more attractive to would be pilots. The possibilities are numerous but I don't pretend to know the answer.
I hope this answers some of the questions asked more satisfactorily.
P68
