It seems we have reached the age were you can indeed get a licence in a breakfast cereal box!
Quite the opposite, I dare to say. When has it been more expensive, at the same time more uncertain to start taking flying lessons, even reaching for an ATPL scheme, left alone a jet rating?!
I fly a lot with low-hour-cadets at our slightly orange tinted LCC, and I am surprised, how good they are. Most of these twentysomething-year-old guys are absolutely airline standard (and that is quite high, referring to the CAA...). They have good technical knowledge, good CRM, excellent hand-flying skills, just limited experience.
You must be a real risk-taker, going for the airline industry these days. More and more entry-level airlines are disappearing. If you are lucky, you jump straight on a jet somewhere in Europe, or like a friend of mine, chase around the world on cheap contracts.