I for one actually think that BA and similar airlines asking for a typerating is an advantage. The main driving force for any airline to provide good conditions is to retain staff. By recruiting qualified pilots from other airlines it puts pressure on those airlines to take make an effort in trying to retain their pilots.
Looking back over the past 20 years Pilots have lost out in a industry downturn but never really recovered lost ground during the good times and one of the reasons are that Pilots are so reluctant to move. Airlines are exceptionally poor at talent retention because they rarely have the need to actively prevent pilots from leaving.
I'm thinking this might change