Based on this thread and what other members have said about their own hiring process, people are right in saying that the hiring standard has gone down.
However, what Cathay wants right now is not what it wanted X years ago... so comparing the standards for two separate problems does nothing but make both teams on the same side upset... the veterans are understandably annoyed that kids these days have it easy... the kids feel disheartened that the veterans don't seem to wanna support their opportunity to become a pilot.
Cathay's desire to train (from scratch) 1,500 mostly local pilots in a place like Hong Kong whose Urban Population has little to no ties to aviation means dramatically widening their scope of acceptability. Of course I don't have the numbers or the data, but that's the feeling I get.
I'm just glad that I have the opportunity in the first place; is that what the veterans are upset about? That the wannabes only got this opportunity because the vets got shafted when covid hit? I'd love to hear your thoughts...