The argument has been made that there's lots of inactive ATPs willing to come back if the pay and QOL was right. The problem is, a person can sit on the sidelines and wait for it (and it may never come) or at some point get back in the pool and take the hit.

At age 44, I had to jump back in the pool even though the water was cold. What's the alternative? The inactive ATPs are slowly realizing it's now or never and many I know are coming back and grunting it out. The last place I wanted to go was a regional at 26K a year. But without recency there's few choices.