I heard a recent interesting ad for a group called "Hire-A-Hubby" who provide handyman/DIY style assistance. Interestingly they offer "$100K income guarantee on selected franchise packages." Now obviously the key word is "selected" but even still, it seems that whilst having a trade is desirable, it's not a requirement of employment/opening a franchise - in fact the radio ad says all you have to be is "good at fixing things or good with your hands."
It's no wonder that airlines paying $40k base salary are struggling to retain pilots or even recruit pilots in the first place when options like these exist and whilst "big shiny jet syndrome" may have been the factor a few years ago, Rex has seen at least half a dozen captains (some senior) move over to the Virgin/Skywest operation. The DJ/XR operation has been debated to death in other threads, however it's clear that the pilots who make that step aren't chasing shiny jets, they're the ones that you would be likely to keep under the right circumstances, the ones that want to fly regional operations and be home every second night, but are looking for something better to serve out a career with.
As many have alluded to, it would appear the atmosphere and culture is the biggest problem facing them at the moment. Two senior Captains have recently resigned (and there are plenty older than them who are still around, so clearly retirement wasn't necessarily the overriding factor there!!)
As Krusty34 said, despite the money being spent to entice American pilots over here, it's not going to fix the problem as pilots (direct entry and cadets) continue to walk out the door - perhaps the reason the EBA got voted in. People aren't concerned with what happens with pay as they have plans to vacate their position at the earliest possible opportunity with high numbers on hold files for Virgin, Jetstar, Skywest and Cathay!