In the end the regulator will bite. My last airline were acquiring a new type and when the application for a variation to the AOC was submitted, the airworthiness unit of the regulator refused to accept the plans for maintenance. They required that maintenance be outsourced until sufficient qualified staff, tooling and support facilities were in place. An expensive option given that the nearest MRO with capability on the type was two hours flying time away and not located at a scheduled destination for that type. One wonders how much the beanies think they have saved by shaving all slack out of the maintenance crews.
Maintenance is seen by the bean-counters as nothing but an undesirable cost to be cut to the bone. As long as employers can get away with cutting staff levels to the minimum levels (for that's what the regulations are) accepted by the regulators, engineers will remain overworked and underpaid.
The reality that good maintenance ensures aircraft availability and keeps 'the production line' flowing at full capacity is lost upon those who have no training or experience in production engineering or planning.