The first sign that City recruitment could be picking up comes from US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which is offering staff a large financial incentive for referring potential recruits to the company.

The bank’s employees can earn £6,000 a head for senior personnel they introduce – for the first time since the practice was common during the buoyant mid-1990s.

City recruitment firm Sammons Group said many investment banks had “cut way too close to the bone” during lean times and were now understaffed. Jonathan Evans, head of Sammons Group, said this latest move indicated the recruitment market remained tough but times were changing rapidly. “There has been a more positive market sentiment in the last month than the last three years,” he added.