The staffing thing is not a new phenomenon. Somewhere, in the archives, i have a letter, dated mid-late 1980s, asking if I would be interested in VR/early retirement, or whatever it was called back then. It was signed by the same gentleman, (nice chap actually), who had been one of the 3 ATCOs on my 'final selection board' about 8 years previously.
The present problems stem partially from the 1970s 'oil-crisis', and the present top-down/tail-wagging-the dog staffing structure which was partially engineered by 'Red'.