There is certainly a demand for decent, proven captains with an ATPL and plenty of hours behind them.
Yes, but not as much as you would think. There is some demand overseas (mainly the Middle and Far East) for experienced airline pilots, captains and first officers, to supplement the shortfalls caused by those countries own rapid expansion and skills shortages. Many of those countries and regions also have medium/Long term plans to eventually satisfy their own regional requirements and are making the investments now to achieve that over the next two decades.
Within the UK, very few (and virtual no major) airlines takes direct entry captains as employees. Recruitment is invariably as a first officer, and that recruitment usually has hiring plateaus of 2000-3000 hours (including 500 hours minimum turbine time) as a baseline, to be in with a reasonable shot. Many of the major carriers also have cadet programmes with their own defined and very competitive entry requirements.
There is no shortage, and there never will be, of fresh out of school 200 hour CPL holders.
No there isn't, and the enormous glut combined with the large numbers of very well experienced airline pilots (unemployed, career bound, expatriate returnees, and military leavers,) all looking to better their own circumstances wouldn't suggest that will change anytime in the foreseeable future.
So many of these seem to expect to get a job straight onto a jet, I say what's wrong with climbing the ladder starting on far smaller aircraft and working up. After all, we all have a long career ahead of us.
A few achieve that, and there is certainly nothing wrong with starting on smaller aircraft and working up." However, the reality is that there are very few ladders out there, and an awful lot of people clamouring to get on the first rungs. The people on the higher rungs (as I alluded to above) are finding their own ascent impeded and slow, which means a lot of hopefuls die of starvation waiting for a rung to become available.