I am with Don, if all this "optimistic scenarios" allow for some or most of the hard-working and professional colleagues to return, then let's hope they materialize.
I believe it's now trendy to say that "the A380 is over" - and it probably is for most airlines - but most people seem to conveniently forget two or three things:
1. Emirates' main purpose is not to make money but to serve as a catalyzer of Dubai economy. At the end of the day, making a profit (in the financial statements at the end of the year) is a plus.
And no, EK dividend won't pay Dubai's financial debt as many like to believe... as the group profit is totally insignificant in comparison.
2. EK owns or has active leasing agreements for about 120 A380s. They cannot just write them off and make them disappear from their books. It is in Emirates' best interest that they get those A380s flying so they can offset some of the fixed costs they have until they can get rid of some of them. Also, A380s represent a huge percentage of the fleet and possibly about half of the capacity the airline has, when recovery is underway airlines will fight to gain or retain market share - they won't care about yield, at least at the beginning.
3. OMDB, as it is nowadays, is built for the A380 there has been massive investment to make the airport and its amenities suit that particular airplane and that specific pax density.
EK, Dubai Airports and Dubai can't just change that structural business model in a few months or a couple of years, it is a long term change and that won't happen before the pandemic ends.
So yes, makes sense, TC wants all 380s to fly in 2022 because is what EK and Dubai need and are built for. They will probably be half empty, but that was already happening before!
Regarding how to crew the airplanes I believe the plan is quite obvious: fire and rehire. Rehire under new T&Cs according to what the market demands and the changes that have already been implemented until now, and they get to choose who gets called and who doesn't based on your past history. Perfect scenario for them. Sure, a small percentage might have found another way to make 10,000USD+ a month but I think they're not that many!