Not to sound like a collaborator, but am I the only one who reads the memo differently. I think the point they are making is that 10-12 months down the line, they will have chipped away the people they don't want or need, so by that time they won't need to sack anyone, hence the use of his favourite phrase "natural attrition".
Don't get me wrong, I think they shot themselves in the foot big-time, but if you cast your mind back to the first mention of job losses, it was actually the Chairman of the board, Mr. Kooheji who started coming out with the figures of 1500 "expat crew" - Dose and and co. never mentioned this.
It seems that every time Dose is in the papers, this Kooheji character is in the next day saying something slightly different. Whether to appease the locals or just get his name in the papers, it's certainly causing most of the rumours and bad feelings...
just my ha'pennys worth,,,
roger, oveur.