Originally Posted by nicholasblonde

You're basically ignoring the fundamental tenets of international contract flying common to all countries with so-called "pilot shortages:"

1) Most of these countries have a need for EXPERIENCED pilots (those with time on type) in the short-term, and they will go overseas to fill the short-term gap until their local guys have enough experience...which leads to the next point...

2) If a country is short enough on pilots in the long-term forecast, they ARE willing to train and take on lower-timers, but due to the increased cost (and increased risk of losing them to other foreign carriers), they typically don't go out recruiting foreigners for these lower-time cadet/type rating/bonding programmes.

So, in general, when you see some news headline "So and so is desperate for pilots," remember, said country will typically go about filling the shortage by importing foreigners with time on type for the short-run until they can train/recruit/season enough locals to fill the gap when the foreigners cycle back out. This is why you don't see many (there are some, i.e. Cathay/Emirates/etc.) airlines worldwide recruiting foreigners for permanent positions. This is not to say there aren't opps out there (Africa, for example) for low-timers to get some great experience.