I hope you don't feel I'm quoting out of context here...
The ones who followed the advice of those already in the industry and didn't pay-to-fly. Those who got relegated to flying piston twins and light turboprops on crap salaries with no advancement to the jets despite accruing many thousand hours of commercial experience...
You say this as if it's a terrible fate to be stuck in a job flying a piston twin or light turboprop....something like a Navajo or King Air I presume? Maybe flying packages around at night on short haul in bad weather with many stops.
In my experience, pilots who have spent a few years in this type of job are among the most skilled and professional aviators I've ever worked with.
I think it's a major fallacy in airline hiring that they seem to prefer time in type or experience in automated cockpits when hiring. It's easier to teach a skilled pilot to work in an automated cockpit flying a jet transport than it is to teach good airmanship to a non skilled pilot while flying an in an automated cockpit.