Late last year and in early 2009, global banks were putting all their energies into large-scale layoffs. But as markets slowly improve, are they beginning to switch their HR efforts into keeping hold of their top performers?

Are they now more concerned about retention than they are about redundancies? There is growing evidence suggesting this may be so.

UBS and Citigroup, for example, are raising the salaries of some of their high-flyers around the world in a bid to keep them loyal. And there haven’t been many redundancy announcements this quarter.

Is retention a real issue in Australia? Are the Big Four in a position to poach off the international i-banks? Let us know below.