I got a full time, IFR Twin job in 1987 with around 1200hrs- two years later major airline interviews (and yes, it was BEFORE "the war") with about 2500.
This was at the tail end of the mid-eighties boom.
That followed the prolonged 70's slump, when neither "major" hired for almost ten years.
Five years later, the economy was once again on it's butt, and guys with thousands of hours where stuck in the bush for years.
It all ramped up again in the late nineties and 2000/01- only to have the "twin towers" of 9/11 and 9/14(Ansett) destroy it once again.
2006/7 ONCE AGAIN saw a window- by 2008 it was over, thanks to our friends at Lehams and their ilk.
Yes, there have been periods of, if not shortage, at least more competitive hiring conditions for Pilots.
Are we headed for another? Who knows, but it IS cyclical to some extent.