I do believe the trend of paying your own TR for your first job is something that is here to stay.
And the mirage of the so called "upturn" might never be big enough to create a pilot shortage, even if there is a drastic upturn.
I deal in retail of special second hand goods, if there is a product that is hard to find/replace - I will put the price higher - however if it is a product who many other offers at reasonable and competitive price, I need to sell this product for less (And I also have to pay less for it when I buy it)
So as long as there will never be a complete shortage of pilots, P2F will always have a market! But if there against all odds, was a major shortage, then P2F strategy would struggle.
I can see some airlines today becoming "feeder" airlines for the larger carriers, and this actually suits all parts as part of their business models.
I admit I would pay my own TR - if there was a job attached to it, and probably at least 80% of the people on these forums would too!