If, as rumours have it, the pool of applicants is drying up and they have problems finding pilots to fill the seats, then it must only be a matter of time. And I doubt it will be a long time.
However, there won't be thousands of applicants for those positions either. The pilot community is well aware of the hard work in EK and the (lack of) quality of life in Dubai.
I was interested before but every time I layover in Dubai the place lose more and more of its attraction. I have some 20 friends working for EK and they range from 1-20 years in the company so I believe I have a fairly good insight in what living in Dubai means;
It's a way of paying your bills but as soon as you can afford it you leave.