Banks are never shy of firing staff in a downturn. In the past the cuts have gone so deep that firms found it hard to benefit when markets rebounded and had to pay over the odds to restaff at speed. Such oscillations in staffing numbers are known as “doing a Merrill”.

And the pressure for bloodletting following this crisis, which has made bankers public enemy number one, is likely to be even greater than usual. But with redundancy programmes in full swing, and some product areas being dismantled, banks must avoid a brain drain as they continue to derisk their balance sheets.