Agreed, and unlike any other trade (which is what it is), the qualifications are perishable. If you don't get a job, in two years you won't be able to get a job without some very expensive retraining. And most employers want you to be current (or recently so) on type.
What is needed is some clear, enforcable, universally recognised legislation which makes it illegal to turn a cockpit seat into a revenue seat. Until we have it, pilots will be forced to pay to play, or leave the industry.
We need a commercial pilot's licence to fly for airlines. The implication is that pilots are paid to be there.