Well actually the way it was perceived was this; cheap, retired and qualified 55 year-old captain joins as a DEC. The senior first officer, who was expecting to be next in line for command, doesn't get his command. Pilot who was hoping to get hired at the bottom of the ladder doesn't get hired because senior FO is still in the right seat.
Worse still, cheap retired captain is prepared to work for peanuts for he already has a good pension. Therefore there will be a reduction in T&Cs for everyone else as long as there is a ready supply of trained pilots who are prepared to work for peanuts.
Certainly Virgin had a lot of that going on in the early days. Also European springs to mind and even Biman Bangladesh had at least one.