Short term pain = long term gain
If EK is successful in attracting the right applicants DEC then it's gonna be short term pain to get the DEC stabilized but once done they will have established a system of getting command ready pilots for the foreseeable future.( long term gain)
EK would end up saving a lot of time and money in not having to upgrade their own FOs , the current FOs better start looking elsewhere for a PIC upgrade.
All the best !