Is no one leaving Anglo?

It's been a brutal couple of days for Anglo Irish Bank - its €17.6bn full-year loss is not only the largest in Irish corporate history, but prompted its chairman Alan Dukes to suggest the Irish banking system needed a further €15bn capital injection (and placed it on CNN's list of 'world's dumbest banks').

What's more, the government's approved restructuring plan to eventually merge and wind-down Anglo and Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS) has essentially sounded the death knell for both banks.

So, why does no one seem particularly keen to leave? Nestled among its income statement this week was its new headcount, as the end of 2010 - 1,296. This is a 16% year-on-year decrease, it points out, and staff costs shrunk to €130m, further demonstrating its prudent approach.

Maybe so, but after the redundancy programme in the first quarter of last year, during which 262 people left the bank, headcount stood at 1,240. This means the bank has actually been hiring since that time.

However, recruitment sources are quick to play down any talk of a hiring spree, but point out that the bank has been taking people on for its Group Recovery Management (or loan workout) unit throughout 2010, and replacing "business critical hires".

But it also signals that few people have a desire to leave. Their hand may be forced, of course, with the Irish Independent suggesting that 700 roles could go as a result of the Anglo-INBS merger. But this is likely to be in duplication areas like Nama units and support functions.

The impact on other areas of the business may be slower to emerge. For a start, court documents have confirmed that the new Anglo-INBS entity will be set a "series of targets and commitments in relation to deposit taking and lending by the merged bank".

Then there's the need to run down Anglo's still sizable loan book, which could take years.

"Most Anglo staff think they'll have a decent supply of challenging work for a good five years and are content to sit tight," says one financial services recruiter. "It's not as though the situation is particularly stable in other Irish banks. Many think it's 'better the devil you know'."