What overpitched said about hours inflation seems true in the UK too. When I got my CPL in '99, every operator I got in touch with basically said "we need a minimum of 1000 hours, come back then. In the meantime, best of luck." Last night, I had a quick look at various of the jobs on Flight International .com and they all seemed to be calling for 2-3000 hours, 500 this, 250 that, IR, ME, turbine, specific type ratings and a cat named Zack.
Why this big increase in experience requirements ?
Generally, if employers are becoming more picky it would be an indication that there is a bigger pool of potential employees to choose from, not a shrinking one.
If there is a pilot shortage, it will become insurmountable if every time someone gets some hours under their belt they find that the operators have upped their requirements by more.