I've heard the airline industry has people because there are air crew who will work for almost nothing to get the seat hours. Is that true?
Yes, to an extent. But that’s also dying on the vine right now with all the movement at the top of the chain (majors) due to the beginning of a 5-10yrs worth of retirements.
Right now, the airline industry is snatching up any mouth breather with the required qualifications as soon as they’re qualified, creating more turnover at the mid-tier commercial pilot operations; which, due to talent being poached to the next level means what used to be a 3-5 tenure is now dropping to a year or less.
Add to that the pilot factories are producing more students, so they need more instructors, giving competition for talent to the mid-tier commercial operations.
So, pay and QoL are rising; entry level regional airline gigs are paying close to $70K/ with $5K signing bonuses and retention bonuses, too.
Now, realize the cost of training is a college degree (de facto requirement) and the associated flying training which can be $30K-$100K+ depending on what path one takes to get there.