I don't see the difference of 3,000 to 10,000 hours guys in NORMAL ops. Whether a guy is typed in a 747 or a CL-65, they are typed and have shown they can fly the plane (assuming they get through OE and the next few hundred hours)... The big difference is time is experience when things aren't normal. You can be in the sim with engines going out and simulated cargo fires all day. What do you do? Yea, let's run that checklist and land. It's the real world "time" aka experience, that's makes the difference in the outcome, many times when all systems fully operational. It's when you are holding to get in, the alternate goes below mins, and you have other airports closing all around you due to a squall line or snowstorm that makes a ya learn and you can say "hmm.. Next time, this option would have prevented wool being sucked up my ass". That's the "time" that can pay dividends down the line to you and the guy next to you, in my opinion.
At the end of the day, insurance sets the mins and the competition sets the true "competitive mins". I know military guys who have been hired at majors with 1700TT... Meanwhile 5-6K from a regional isn't competitive. Is it fair? Depends on where you are in your path and mindset. I'm not going to the desert to fly a big plane just to fly a big plane, but there are plenty with lower hours who would jump in a heartbeat. It's all relative.