I agree that jumping ship from regional to regional just for a signing bonus is unethical and will require explaining during an interview in the future. And for the record, I am not advocating anyone should do that at all.

However, someone who signs a training contract is also free to leave when they wish to do so. They just have to pay back the "calculated" cost of training.

So I suppose the wholly owned give people the option to either take the signing bonus or decline? The only problem with that is that it becomes immediately clear that the applicant has reservations of being on the property beyond the two-year mark if they don't accept the bonus.