PIC is a weird thing in that yes, it obviously helps to have it to get hired, the more, the merrier. BUT...

My avatar here is ForeverFO, and it means what it says. I was hired with about 1350 TPIC, maybe 200 SIC, but it was fighters and I had the standard list of leadership roles accomplished; IP, 4-ship lead, mission commander, etc.

I still have that 1350 PIC, but TT must be close to 16,000. Am I a better pilot now than I was when hired? Of course, waaay better, having been part of a crew that's been everywhere and done everything at different times, but none of it was PIC.

If I was HR and had a guy with 6,000 right-seat 121 hours but zero PIC, I'd probably hire him. But I'm not, and most companies want the PIC, I gues because it demonstrates that yes indeed, the guy can do it.