Superpilot - I clocked just over 2,000 instruction hours - and about 5 years instructing - before I got my first break (on a poxy 19 seat turboprop) and that was in the mid '90s. That's always been about the ballpark figure for instructors to get into the bigger leagues, so I'm actually pleasantly surprised to read that things haven't changed for the worse for your FI friends ...
They'll get their golden phone call if they hang in there.