Stansdead - heard very similar things, nice to have it confirmed by others ! lol
Apparently a certain orange-ish carrier are being a little more friendly in their dealings with staff these days which to my mind would suggest they know that the market is slowly picking up for more experienced guys and that maybe, just maybe they realise that if t's & c's are eroded much further then an exodus of current staff may (i say may) be on the cards - will be interesting to watch and see how things recover over the coming months and years !