I think we're missing the point here. Regardless of whether the company is "covering the numbers" or not, one of the biggest issues is that we're replacing very experienced pilots with incredibly low hour newbies.
Check any crew on any flight on the roster system (if you can figure it out on the new portal), and you'll often see a crew with a brand new Captain, and a brand new FO. Often no-one with more than 6-7 years experience in the company. Those guys will in turn have been trained by many brand new instructors, and checked by many brand new TREs.
As long as there's bums on seats, our esteemed leadership keep blindly pressing on. They created this mess, and now no-one wants to accept responsibility for where it's all heading.