The 'rumor' came from someone in training. Yes, it could be untrue. What was said is that in an attempt to get 330 DECs they offered new DECs a big jump in where they started on the CURRENT scale!
The rumor is that new FOs are being offered s start at the 3rd year.
I know for a FACT that there are various analyst teams within EK working on trying to make the job more marketable to new hires. They are looking at area like staff travel etc because they are having a very difficult time recruiting.