TWC,
I think they are trying to tactically manage the drawdown of the 330 fleet in the face of reducing recruitment as fewer have been attracted and of those that have, fewer are succeeding. Add that to the loss of Trainers and the situation can quickly become critical and irretrievable. So there will be outsourced training on the cards to try and catch up as they try to find a way to attract more candidates.
We know this will cost a boat load of money and so the penny pinching attitude of the last couple of years will come back to bite them and cost even more money in the long run. Until they break the cycle of short-term gain leading to long-term pain nothing will improve. The company leadership prides itself on flexibility but then fails to notice when flexibility becomes knee-jerking.
The solution in the short term is to allow the talented managers to manage without interference from untrained wannabees. The situation in training apparently went downhill when the last purge happened and the personnel changes have directly led to retention issues. As far as recruitment is concerned, those in the team fully realise the issues but battle with the inertia of the process. Senior leadership want instant results but it takes months to recruit and train new pilots so it must be accepted that the company should have a small reserve of personnel to allow for growth and issues with recruitment. That would also have the added benefit of reducing the pressure on frontline staff. Over time this approach would save money but the short term cost increase would almost certainly lead to the unenlightened dismissing it.
Ultimately though a company stands or falls on its culture and whether or not the employees buy into it. 20 years ago they used to but now that is no longer the case. If this does not change in the longer term the business will be doomed to mediocrity. Emirates is a brilliant brand that now must adapt from exploitation of employees to empowering and trusting them if it is to flourish further. Bullying, fear and ridicule should not be tolerated at any level of the business.