They have an Chinese mentality towards safety and compliance. Their attitude is to see if there is a way around or a bandaid application that can be applied as safety to them means money. This is particularly prevelent in their maintenance department.
I don't think they require pilots right now, as far as I know they have about 50 pilots for 3 aircraft and one of those is down for heavy maintenance.
As I said before Asiagirl, you may take 3 or 4 years leave of absence to fly for a small airline like Viva Macau. Then find Viva folds six months after you start there and find you have 2 or 3 years of unemployment. Yes they are that shakey. It is a different world outside of United