Guys, there is no pilot shortage...really. Maybe a couple of flights get messed around because temporarily crew are in the wrong place or because there isn't a standby crew on that particular occasion, but by and large the airlines continue to operate...flights go more or less on schedule, CV's keep flooding in to HR departments with applicants offering to pay for type ratings, work for nothing etc etc.
The mob I work for has recently started a policy of not paying people until they get one line.... I think that's a disgrace but they get away with it, so do other companies. We won't look at non type- rated people, we don't need to because there is a line of people volunteering to pay themselves.
I don't expect newbies/wannabees to 'sacrifice' their aspirations by not paying, nor do I expect ex BA retirees to suddenly decide to 'act for the common good'. The situation is as it is, it's not going to change except for the worse, but after it's changed for the worse it will probably get better again....this has been the cycle for the last 50/60 years so I don't see why things should change.
So, should you pay for a type rating...no question really, because the probability is that you're going to have to. I think Flying Farmer's experience best summed up the state of the industry. On paper at least he/she would be a candidate for progression to jets with a good chance of an early command if the opportunity arose. The reality? Offered a cadet position. The conclusion? Any talk of a pilot shortage is wishful thinking. You may look at your roster and disruption to flights and think there is a shortage of crews, the bean counters however look at the bottom line and don't see the need to 'buy' more crews. The bean counters run the airlines, so in the real world they're right and you're wrong (until/unless events prove otherwise). Us pilots have been waiting for 'the golden age' (decent salaries/pensions for a long time...in real terms over the last 30-odd years my pay and conditions have at best remained pretty static and may actually have got slightly worse.