TH,
I get what you're saying about being picky but the younger, possibly more talented pilot recruits of the future will still require "millions of pounds" of training to get to the level of many of the people we are about to lose. Yes, we may end up with a slightly higher level of talent at the frontline, but we will still be paying out to train new pilots when we could be retaining people who have achieved course-standard and been awarded wings. I thought the priority was saving money and the suggested 100s of millions that we've already spent and are about to write-off is hardly chicken feed.
If I was one of the unfortunates and you offered me the option of a 1 to 2 year sabbatical, I'd take it in a heartbeat.
Holding pools seem to work very well for the airlines during a downturn, maybe this is one of those occasions where the RAF actually has something worth learning from commercial best-practice.