I don't know what kind of pay some guys were receiving prior to coming to EK, but nowadays in anything but an established legacy carrier from a westernized country, pay is !!!!e!! Then you have extremely high taxes and cost of living (mortgage/rent) to deal with. My take home pay went up several hundred percent from flying in Canada, let alone with no mortgage to pay.
Guys will continue to apply, there is no doubt. Certainly better for single guys, much harder for the wife and family to adapt and be happy then it is for the guys going on layovers all over the world.
Opportunities to even be an FO on a modern widebody tend to be rare in most countries, let alone prospect of command in 5 yrs time frame give or take.
Some guys are never happy, that's a given. But I'm not one of the expats who's counting the days til I can go back home. If I could get the pay and lifestyle back home, maybe, but that's never going to happen.