Hello!
I´m with DA50, I won´t hire anyone who does SSTR.
Yes, but... like everybody else, you like to hire people with some experience, don't you? And if, in the past, someone had to pay for his first typerating in order to get his first job that allowed him to gain the amount of experience that you like to see in your pilots, would you still not hire him? Honestly, there is not only black or white in the world. Rather "reality" and "dream".
And as "suitcaseman" points out, nothing in this life comes for free: If the operator pays for your typerating, then you have to accept a lower initial salary or some other penalties. Everywhere. Even in your operation I assume. Every airline cadet scheme works that way: They pay for your training, you earn less money - you pay for your training, you earn more money. Rocket science for beginners, so to say.
I am instructing a lot beside flying, and in the past we used to tell our students never to pay for a typerating. But in 2011, advising a young (=200hr) pilot never to pay for a type rating means sentencing him to permanent unemployment. I don't like it either, but I have to face reality.
Happy landings,
Max
NB: I never paid directly for a type rating (two so far) myself and accepted lower intial salaries instead. But with hindsight, it might have been wiser to invest some money in a good rating 20 years ago, because it would have sped-up my career (10 years flying piston twins really didn't help a lot...) and with interest and compound interest I would have a lot more money in the bank now.
NNB (or is it NBB?): Didn't we have this same discussion a dozen times before?