Reserve is not the choicest assignment in the airline, to say the least. But that being said, its completely manageable. You will get a guaranteed 11 days off a month, and if youre flexible on your reserve period, it doesn't take alot of seniority to hold a couple of weekend days off.
Plan on being used most days on call, especially now as we are short staffed. As for hiring, they don't seem to be a big fan of large number announcements, but we have had a steady flow of classes since september. Given our current shortage, losing crews to dtw, and the rest rule changes, I would expect hiring to continue. Or, Delta could park all of our 50s tomorrow, and there will be 1000 more pilots on the street. Isn't aviation fun!