Well the simple reality is this:
• We have waayyyyyy more FOs in the pipeline than the company actually needs (sorry...this should be no surprise to anyone)
• Training capacity is just getting back up to speed after all the forced CA upgrades. But -- with all FOs on property now being assigned an upgrade class date as soon as they hit 750-800 hours 121 time, a *significant* portion of training capacity is now being devoted to upgrades, for the foreseeable future. Most of those people will be doing short courses, but even the short course still requires a total of 12 procedures trainer + sim sessions, and there are only so many PT and sim instructors on property.
Bottom line, the age-old advice of "Go to whichever airline offers you the first class date" is as accurate today as it ever was. I feel for those who already resigned their previous jobs and are now being delayed from starting class here.