Pistolpete47
These people are very welcome in the countries that they are increasingly moving to, the UK realises what an asset they are and gives them BNO passports in the hope that they will come with their money and expertise. HKG is in decline and unfortunately so is CX. The airline will probably survive in a smaller form but will have to downsize similar to EY, becoming more of a regional airline with a few long haul routes. The EK model of a hub and spoke airline doing long haul connecting flights in very large aircraft with a focus on premium pax is broken for the foreseeable future. At least CX avoided buying the A380, but unlike EK and SQ, they lack the strong government backing needed for an airline with no domestic network to get through this crisis.
As is the case in most airlines, it will be the foreigners that bear the brunt of the layoffs. After the pandemic ends foreign pilots will probably still be needed, but it will be as expats on fixed term contracts rather than career employees expecting to stay until retirement. Likely similar to working in China before COVID; you were needed but not wanted, contracts weren't worth the paper they were printed on, any labour laws favoured the employer but the pay was good while it lasted.