There are FOs leaving to go back to Ryanair. And that is not a rumour, it's a fact.
And not a surprising one- Ryan has lifted it's game recently, and it is not a bad work/life balance.
Plenty come to the sand only planning a short stay, or get here and find it's not for them- it's not really an indictment of EK- the traffic is still very much in the other directions.
Best of luck to any US guys trying to get home- just do bear in mind every hiring boom has inevitably ended with a bust at some point.