There's a shortage of EXPERIENCED pilots willing to uproot their families for compensations that are fairly flat across the country.
There's no shortage of 500 hrs pilots ready to work for free, and that's the real problem of the current US helicopter industry.
Unless the Feds step up to the plate establishing minimum requirements for some specialized applications (it's already been done in Europe), we'll see 1000 hrs and then lower starters in activities such as HEMS.
There are several new flight schools pumping out an ever growing number of "flight instructors" with not much time outside the traffic pattern, but most will say it's a catch 52 situation:"cannot build experience if you already ain't got it".
Going back to Europe seems more attractive every day.