Well, yes and no.

Yes, in that banks will start hiring again once the European crisis is sorted out, and no in that it does not necessarily help those who have been laid off.

I am in the industry (bulge bracket cap mkts front office) and til today, I still cannot figure out what happens to laid off bankers with any degree of certainty. Most just hang around headhunters for a while, looking to re-enter the industry if the market picks up in a short time period.

However, if the market stays slow, like in 1998 or 2003, then they have to look for other jobs. There are only so many CFO and treasurer jobs around, and incumbents tend to stay for a long time so very few openings. So for bankers taking up non-banking or non-CFO/treasurer jobs, they have to take a pretty sizeable cut in salary.

And no, most front office IB / cap mkts bankers with 5-10yrs of experience do not have enough to retire on, given where housing prices are today.

So believe me, bankers are getting quite worried about the developments.