odds are that the fact you are umming and ahhing about applying will come through in an interview making the discussion academic...im afraid to say.
But in my opinion, CX is prob one of the best companys out there at the moment to work for, you sayCX managment could come and slash this or that, but take a step back and look at what is actually happening in the world, it is the US carriers that are doing all the slashing ...pension plans to name one thing, and those airlines have near to 100% ALPA membership and all the legal protections for the workforce. Look at the track record of CX in its financial position, even with SARs they posted profits come year end, and we all got 13th month, well three weeks of it anyway.
As stated above very few CX people leave to fly other widebodies, either they move to more domestic jobs or are forced due to 55 retirment. Im only new but dont know anyone whom has left.
Promotion times are up in the top level as well, you could prob forget about commands in any of the US majors for a very very long time, BA as well. Yes EK is probably a lot quicker but the package isnt as good. LCC carriers offer quick commands but judging from the amount of pm's im getting from those pilots all is not well in their camps.
Best of luck in deciding whether to apply or not, my 2 cents worth are that CX want people 100% keen not half hearted.