Just about anything that comes from any news is fiction!
I was involved many years ago in a residential training school that cost loadsa money, and the European airlines (apart from those in Scandinavia) were not able to look past the next five minutes, despite the fact that there was a four year waiting list for approved courses at the time and even if you had a place on a course, let alone a licence you had a job!
That shortage hasn't gone away, because Air Europe obligingly went down and there were bums on seats again, but there's been no serious training since then, due to recessions, etc, which is why it will really bite very soon, if not already doing so, and spread, if what I hear is true (actually, there's no shortage of pilots, but experience).
sadly, no amount of reports will make bean counters think further than the next lunch hour.
Phil