Of course the trouble with a "natural break point" is that it does exactly what it says on the tin. It is designed to weed out those who don't want to commit. Thats what its for....to get rid of the top level of mid seniority guys so that there isn't a surplus all wanting promotion. If nobody went at the break point there would be chaos.
Vecvec, i couldn't agree more, under normal circumstances....but the steady-state after all of your non-commitals have left should still leave you with:
a. Enough experienced operators to do the job whilst maintaining some level of knowledge/experience.
b. Enough ladder-climbers(or enhanced pension seekers
) to fill the SO2 posts.
You need some degree of both. My point is that, at the moment, i'm not convinced that we have either!