At the moment, from what I hear, neither Bristows nor Scotia are recruiting unless you have an instrument rating (I've heard variations from £15,000 to £30,000 for the cost of this, on top of costs of getting CPL(H) etc). After September 11th, the laid-off airline pilots with dual qualifications went back to the North Sea. So the North Sea operators can pick and choose right now. So some of the instructors who would normally be moving on to the North Sea are staying put. So what does that leave for us newbies? I wish I knew. How long will it last? Answers and speculation same as for other branches of aviation.