sorry, but that is not correct, however some people want us to believe exactly that ...
Anyone believes that the company "has" to hire pilots on local terms should think again...
If the company had received legal advise to the effect they could hire expats without triggering and end to local contracts, they most certainly would. Believe me. We'd have proper DESO contracts again, as well as DEJFOs. We might even see DEFOs on the bases again, who after serving their time could return to HK in expat conditions, something they can not legaly offer without invalidating local contracts.
Upper management is convinced that they can't legally get aorund this, and Finance is therfore instructing Flight Ops to not hire anybody on expat terms. This puts a lot of pressure on company-loyal flight-ops managers who don't agree with this decision from an operational perspective. In fact, most will tell you over a beer that the Cadet program only works when mixed with experienced crews. The HKPA is a (failed) attempt at recruting experienced pilots without triggering a RDO claim, and is a compromise of sorts between Finance and Flight Ops.
So I say again, you've got it wrong. The company would prefer that they
could hire expats without triiggering a landslide at the same time.
Have a look at HSBC. They already dealt with this issue by putting
everybody on the same benefits scale to avoid this mess.