Just my two cents for anyone reading this and thinking about training:
Schools will always talk about a pilot shortage, and in a way is that surprising? They are businesses after all.
There is a video up on youtube of a CTC open day which shows just how hard some FTOs like to push the stats.
The case is as it has always been (although granted much more difficult now than as in the boom years) - there are jobs for low houred pilots. Just nowhere near enough to go round. You either have to be lucky or make sure you work your socks off to differentiate yourself from everybody else.
Of those few jobs for low houred guys and girls, most don't offer the T&Cs that attracted them to the industry in the first place, BUT getting the first job will open up many others. Don't bend over for P2F or T&Cs that resemble slave labour but on the other hand don't pass up on opportunities just because they don't pay a salary your FTO tempted you with initially.
Think long and hard about what you will do if you cannot find a job that will cover your loan repayments, I know people in this situation and its not nice to see it happen to friends. Out of our FTO course, fewer than 50% have secured airline employment. Not to say that flying a jet is the only way to make a career in aviation, but lets face it, not many go to the likes of CTC, OAA, FTE with the expectation of being an FI.