Everything changes, though, and individual airlines become more or less apepaling over time. I have a relative who's involved in recruiting at BA and he said that it can be difficult to prise people away from the likes of easyJet because the BA Ts&Cs are not that attractive anymore (especially when coupled with a LOOOOOOOONG wait for command). on the plus side, they are actually recruiting pilots at the moment and were massively over subscribed.
However, I suspect that many of the people complaining about EK and EY could well do with pausing to compare their position with those back in their home countries where airlines have been shedding pilot jobs (or at least not expanding) for a while. Yes there's a lot of crap to put up with out here but it could be worse - it could be Saudi Arabia where your wife and children will have a REALLY crappy lifestyle.