I just happened to be surfing here and came across this discussion. I am a Training Captain with a large Airbus operator and have some thoughts on this issue. Maverick_supersonic seems a sincere guy looking for a sincere answer. There was a flurry of activity on the SSTR front last year and my airline along with a number of others saw the opportunity to get even cheaper pilots than normal. Overall the SSTR has now become a much less favoured option as the risks to the airline are considerable due to the variable quality of the candidates produced. The option of 'buying' say 150 hours line training as well as the SSTR is also receding for the same reason. A number of companies who have done so have had their fingers burnt with heavy landings and poor performances etc. That is not to say that everyone who does the SSTR is bad - it does say that the risks of low calibre candidates appearing on the line with real passengers are substantially increased. A number of airlines have had less than satisfactory experiences and, in my judgement, there is considerably less likeliehood of obtaining employment from mainstream companies now than was the case even a year ago. Others will point to the guys who now have temporary jobs with companies like easyJet etc. That is indeed so, but these are the successful remnant of last year's scheme. I personally do not believe that many companies will take the same risks to produce the necessary high quality candidates as they did in the past. The bottom line is that airlines require minimal safety risks and new pilots with low hours overall and even lower hours on type are a substantial risk. Unless considerable effort has gone into the selection of such candidates (using CTC or similar), then the risks become unacceptable.
Cutting to the chase, I believe that to go for a SSTR right now would be financially ruinous in the current climate as there are substantial numbers of qualified and airline-experienced FOs looking for jobs. Under such circumstances why would any company take on a self-selected and unknown quantity when proven candidates are available immediately? Harsh it is, but I genuinely believe that is an accurate view of the current climate. Best of luck whatever you do.