SQ used to have expat contracts with housing and schooling allowances, that ended a few years ago. There are still foreigners employed but everyone is on the same terms. There are no bases but some Malaysians commute. Living costs in Singapore are a bit lower than Hong Kong, especially housing if you are a local.
Pay cuts have been agreed but these are temporary and include senior management. No doubt that CX are taking full advantage of this once in a lifetime crisis and intend to have T&Cs determined by market forces going forward. Soon, only the ME3 will have expat packages and even those are being reduced.
My mob recently got rid of 25% of flight crew and even with that we're still planning on having a surplus for the next three years, once demand picks up it's probably another year of getting those who want to return back online. External recruitment very unlikely before 2025 and then they can be very picky about who they take on.
With long haul premium and transit traffic likely to be the last to recover, I can't see CX planning on carrying a huge pilot surplus for the next 4 - 5 years, even on the new contract, whilst every other major airline is laying off 20 - 35% of their pilots. I think Slasher has got it right, sign the new contract or you're out, which gets rid of a few. Once the new contract is inplace, lay off those you want to get rid of under terms favourable to the company. Carry a small excess of pilots in the meantime and when you need to recruit again, they'll come running for whatever's on offer.
Doesn't matter if they overshoot with the layoffs as there will be plenty of suitable candidates around who can quickly be brought back online.