kind of funny, since at corporations and part 91 and 135 places they will hire off the street captains and other qualified people over the people the operation has in house. It's a mixed bag in non-union places. You can come off the street and be the chief pilot if the situation presents itself. At an airline, you will will rot in the right seat, if you ever have to take a furlough and have to move on to another airline.
Are you making fun of another co-worker that is having problems in this modern age after 9/11 or are you trying to gauge your own career against someone that is having career adjustment problems out there in the flying world?
With good qualifications, a pilot should be able to step over the low time pukes at a non-union place.