"Anyone's guess as to when the recruiting process will kick off again, and for who."
Well here are my thoughts. From the outside this is what I think is going on. HR haven't updated us on the recruitment picture yet because they don't know themselves. I think that the longer the downturn, the worse it is for us DESOs in the pool. However after the Christmas and New Year period I think CX will be in a better position to judge where they are at.
If things start to pick up in the New Year then i think those of us in the DESO pool will start to hear from HR and perhaps get a few offers of DESO courses, this is simply because it takes at least 18 to 24 months to send a cadet applicant from 0 to hero being ready to fly the line. If the downturn continues and there is no recover or indication of a recovery in the New Year I think all of us in the Pool can say goodbye to the dream or whatever you want to call it. Again just my opinion.
As far as turning down jobs waiting for CX I would be very careful as CX may never call, someone once told me that in aviation you should always keep your bags packed and be ready to move. I thought that was the best advice I had heard about this job. Good luck to everyone and I hope we all land stable employment that we can enjoy and not worry about making ends meet.