I believe the intent of the Immigration law is not to employ NEW hires from overseas if there is a suitably qualified local workforce. This would be the same as most countries as discussed previously.
Then there are the visa renewals. A company must declare something like "I am requesting this visa to be renewed because there are no qualified pilots locally"
By declaring this in this current environment would be fraudulent and that person and company could find themself in a world of hurt if this was proven otherwise.