I think by 'empty the pool' he is referring to the pilots that were successful in the interview process but never offered a start date, and which are now being offered the iCadet option.

My opinion is that CX needs to hire DE pilots right now and what is holding them back is the basings issues (ie, taxation, right to work, etc). They could hire DESOs right now but they would then have to pay higher packages (full expat housing, educational allowances, etc), so they are testing the waters to see how many iCadets they can take in. When the actual recruitment of DE pilots will occur again is anyones guess.