Company is growing and I hope the upgrade time reduces.
Latest guys to get assessed for upgrade have 10 years seniority. The Saudi FO's are extremely annoyed with direct hires as they are obviously filling slots that they believe should be theirs, therefore the company will stop direct hires as soon as possible.
The first company sponsored university graduate pilots should start to return from the USA next summer, they are the start of the long term solution.
But right now, rather than worrying about your upgrade, you should really be concentrating on passing your present training.