I am a young pilot half way through my JAA training. I have spoken to other young guys who finished up quite recently and spent hardly any time out of work. What they have done is after the completion of their training, they bought a ticket somewhere and went travelling. Every place they stopped they looked to see if small operators were looking for pilots.
There is a lot of work out there, but you must go to it as it will not come to you. The problem that many of the wannabes have (and I say problem only with regard to employment) is that they have had a career in another industry and many have a home and family in the UK so ideally, that is where they would have to work.
If you are very young, as in your case Paul, and finish your training young, dont hang around waiting to get employment in the UK. If you dont get anything back from the low cost guys shortly after completion of training, be prepared to put on a backpack and start looking for work elsewhere. If you are young, unnatatched and have nothing holding you back from leaving, by all means go and find the work.
The industry is picking up, and possibly by the time you finish training it could be better than ever. The problem is there are also twice as many out of work pilots around. When more jobs come along, more out of work pilots will be there to fill the spaces.
I was 18 when I started flying, and I say go ahead if you can and start flying. If your anything like me you would sit in a lecture room and think too much about flying to get any work done at uni. Yes it is a gamble, but I am prepared to go anywhere to find work. I am young, and would like to explore all parts of aviation during my career. I do have good schooling behind me, so if for whatever reason everything fell apart, I do have the option of going to university and changing my career path. Just remember, there is more to flying than just the RHS of a shiny plane from a low cost operator.
Good luck
BYB