You could not have been more right : This has already started in other parts of the airline . A couple of months ago while refueling my single engine in Malta, I saw a large bunch of young Philipinos wearing LH badges walking by. I was told that there were " students" in Aircraft maintenance getting their European EASA accreditations. LH is investing massively in Malta and The Philippines to move away their traditional German maintenance bases.
You were totally wrong. What you saw were Philippinos training Maltese new staff, so that the work can stay in Europe.
This is the problem of the majority of the pilots yelling here. They just see something ("being told"), but they do not understand what's behind.