Are Russian bankers heading home in 2011?

There is no "rush" back to Russia for bankers disillusioned by job prospects in the West - yet - but it is a mixed and changing picture around opportunities available.

"We are being approached by a growing number of Russians looking to move back home after two to three years of trying to find new opportunities in the West. Most of them did not want to consider Moscow before the crisis, now that has changed" says Olga Selivanova-Shoff, a partner at headhunter Heidrick & Struggles in London.

"Russian banking expats are more open (now) to considering Moscow. I personally feel it has more to do with the tax position than the fact that some are being made redundant" says Taru Oksman-Ison, founder of emerging markets search firm Riverhouse Partners.

Gregory Camou, head of the Moscow office of international search firm Pedersen & Partners confirms this. "I see certain finance sector managers being relatively more attracted to jobs in Russia than in the West," he says.

"I recently placed someone with a top western MBA into a job in Russia as head of a well-known investment manager, and his salary is more than 50% higher than it would have been in the West. But Russians who are senior in the banking sector in the West may choose to extend their stay there in ventures other than banking rather than rushing back to Russia, where it is not all plain sailing."

The situation could change very fast. Much will depend on the financial markets in the next six to 12 months. Russia's financial sector is narrower in scope and more volatile, so "from a career standpoint people may feel safer staying in a much larger market rather than returning and getting 'stuck'" Camou adds. But once they've been away from Moscow for more than five years, Russian bankers display less of an inclination to return.