There may not be a shortage of pilots round the corner, but before 9/11 there was most definitely a shortage of quality pilots brewing. In retrospect, 9/11 will look like a small blip on the hiring graph, however large it looms at present. While airlines have gone TU, others have prospered. Pilots continue to retire, and fewer trainees are entering the industry at the moment.
The problem the airlines have is that it takes more than a fATPL to be the right recruitment material. Flight schools churn out both excellent and unemployable graduates. During the next couple of years there will be a shortage of the excellent. There will also be people who are unable to get jobs, having just got their fATPL and they will be on PPRuNe wondering why.