And just like that, hiring at top Wall Street banks has picked up. You can't really say the floodgates have reopened. But business in a lot of areas--trading and energy, among others--has really picked up. Reuters says that a lot of TARP banks are now "trying to catch up with hiring earlier this year by smaller banks that did not take government funds and by foreign banks that also had no compensation restrictions."

But no one could reasonably expect staffing levels to return to 2007 levels. And the cruel irony for many is that if you were laid off and have been out of work, well, you might be seen as used goods. Apparently, there's a preference for people that survived the crisis at another firm. Headhunters are definitely busy. 

For more:
- here's the article

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