After doing my research, Ryanair really is a crap airline! However, O'Leary is a genius... He is able to take the European aviation system and use it to his advantage. Low time pilots really dont have any way of getting into a jet unless they buy their type...
In the US, there is very little paying for training... It has been common practice for us to become flight instructors to build time and then get hired at a regional airline that will type rate and pay us while in training. The reason is that airlines need pilots. The ones that are qualified arent willing to pay for a typerating. The airlines cant get away with it, unless youre Southwest in which case CEO Herb Keller helped Michael O'Leary build the Ryanair model. Thats a whole nother debate though and is not the norm...
In Europe, general aviation doesnt exist like it does in the US. Therefore, becomming a flight instructor and building time is not an option for all these low time guys. If you didnt go through an ab-initio program with an airline, you have no choice but to pay to go to work at a place like Ryanair.
I disagree with this system, but it makes sense. Its simple economics. Supply and Demand... O'Leary has a supply of jobs and there is a supply of pilots who demand those jobs. He can manipulate the system however he wants as long as people are willing to work under such conditions.