I was at the KH and the official discussion of the letter on the cover of the Sept. Kingdom Ministry took place. The instructions were to include a discussion of how the need for workers in the field was great.
Basically, the letter says that due to technology, less Bethelites are needed, so many are being sent out into the field, with many congregations in the United States receiving the benefits of these "mature" publishers. Yes, they actually said they were sending older ones packing from Bethel. One sister who volunteers at Bethel in the Summer said that many mature ones were definitely leaving or already gone. I said to my wife, "They do this now, before these mature ones need expensive healthcare. It's sad that they expected to be cared for at Bethel as they got older, some giving up lucrative careers for poverty, then dismissed to some congregation that may or may not be able to help them."
This so burns me up. On the upside, my wife (stable rock-steady JW) allowed me to say all this without disagreement or tuning me out. She might be reached, eventually.