It is indeed sad to see the T & Cs being pushed the way they are. For those of you who have a job but is still considering a career change I can tell you what I have done.
Over the past 6 months I resigned from my job to start a new one, got fired ("financial crises, sorry got to let you go") and found a new job. I had a lot of bad luck but then it turned for me and I hit the jackpot.
In the current financial climate I managed to land a pretty awesome job and I'm loving it! My attitude to this circus change somewhat after this experience and I realized that I cannot continue to have my entire life depending this business. So starting May I will get back to university and study part time and work my way towards another degree. I have decided that I need to keep myself flying for another 4-5 years and then I have a solid backup plan should things go t**s up.
There is another thread running on a similar subject (what do you do with you time when business is slow) and there are some more, and some less, creative ideas how to make some extra money. In my opinion there are no short cuts though. If you go out on the job market trying to start a new career you have to remember that most of the time you are competing with some highly skilled and trained people with many years of university studies behind them. So for me there is only one way to go and that is via a university or one of many private institutes offering courses.
I wish you all good luck with your future careers!
bjb