I can only speak for myself nosponsor but I have a 757/767 TR on my licence.
If nobody is hiring FO's to do the numerous t/o's and landings then you got to go with who is hiring. We all have to keep a roof over our heads.
I don't know how airlines or recruitment agencies work but I'd be interested to know if they place more emphasis on 12 months cruise pilot on a widebody trans-atlantic and 1 year FO opposed to 2 years on a ATR/Q400 short hops. I suppose it would depend on what your career aspirations are.
Last time I looked UK based companies looking for FO's were thin pickings except Ryanair and you need to pay for a TR there too.
Granted no hands on flying below 20,000ft but experience watching from the jumpseat beats working in an 9-5 office while holding a fATPL.
You can never get what you want in life, so you make do with what you can. Plus its not always about the quality of the flying, sometimes its about the lifestyle of longhaul vs. shorthaul.
I do echo your sentiments about SJ's position though, will be interesting to hear the financial predicitions in March when they are published.