Back in the mid 1990s, anyone who was looking at joining CX had to weigh upon what 1997 would bring and decide accordingly. For the Australians coming from turboprops it was still a decent option to get some jet time while waiting for QF to start recruiting again. It gave them a big leg up as they could go from S/O B744 into exactly the same job back home.
Initially the handover went well and the biggest change was going to "B" aircraft registrations. Unfortunately the pessimists seem to have been right, and whilst it's taken a lot longer and is happening more slowly their predictions are coming true.