I do agree with what you say.
There is also another factor to take into account, looking back at the situation of 20 years ago. Airline traffic has increased massively over this period, and I believe it still is increasing.
There are more airlines, more aircraft, and ditto more jobs.
A long recession on average lasts 16 - 24 months. Predictions are that we are mid way trough the recession at the moment.
Still I believe more people travel, more cargo gets moved every year by airlines, some airlines go out of business, because they have not been able to adapt to the future, and some have been to ambitious to early, some will go under, and new airlines will arrive.
Situations are different for us all, if I was 20, I would most likely not mind to work slowly upwards the instructor route etc., honestly I still would not mind this now, still I would when I get all my certs. done, actively look how I can progress my career best possible, this including paying for TR and line training myself. Everybody here has to decide this for themselves and their personal situation.
Still at the same time, from my experience in the past, I would NEVER expect to walk straight into the RH on a jet, as I do believe more than 250 hours is required for this. And this is what some now have the option to pay for if they want.
Maybe the lack of smaller airlines with smaller aircraft, is the major problem in europe for giving enough pilots sufficent experience. Unlike in the USA, we do not have to many so called regional carriers who use smaller twins/turboprops. So it is either flying a small multiengine at training or a 737/A320 - there is nothing in the middle.
Still when I originally wanted to go for this 20 years ago, I would expect at least 5 years from finish training, before getting a decent sniff at a decent job.