What is currently happening is not far removed from the status in the early 1990s. The economy was in recession and jobs became more scarce. Those that were hiring paid peanuts for inexperienced pilots - ask anyone who worked for CityFlyer Express about the poverty wages on offer and they will no doubt tell you how bad it was. British Midland - as they were then known - did a scheme whereby pilots paid for a 737 type rating with no promise of a job thereafter and you had to have passed at least the technical exams to get an interview with any turboprop operator.
As an out of work pilot I considered all the options and decided to go down the instructor route until things got a little better - in any case paying for a 737 type rating with no promise of a job was not financially possible for myself. The end result was that I did eventually get that first step onto the airline career - almost 4 years after gaining a CPL/IR and frozen ATPL - and I am now a Captain with easyJet. Along the way I passed the ARB for both the HS748 and Shorts 360, but flew neither. Others decided to pay for the type rating and worked for the appropriate operator, though in some instances several months after they completed the course.
The point that I am making is that either you take the offer that is on the table or you find some other way into the profession. If you do not or cannot accept what is on the table, unfortunately there will always be someone else who can and will. Until people stand together and unanimously say no, these schemes will exist. Go instructing, try to find yourself some work flying a light twin, how about flying a Caravan round Africa? Who knows, you may actually enjoy it! There are plenty of things you can do other than jump straight into the RHS of a shiny jet, and most of them are more fun!