With multinational companies closing down their shops and shrinking their size of operation, caliber talents became part of the collateral damage and lost their jobs in the process.

Recent major job cuts include Lehman Brothers (the cutting off jobs and eventually the bankruptcy), Merrill Lynch, HSBC, XL Leisure, Qantas Airways, United Airlines and Starbucks.

The one who are busiest are apparently, the headhunters and recruitment agencies.

With many professionals and high flying talents on the loose, the recruitment market is put in feeding frenzy after many professional firms and companies approached established headhunters to sweep them and line them up in front of their office for potential job offers. In the recent weeks, recruitment agencies are made to work harder than ever – with a promise of big bucks.

Apparently, those who lost their jobs are not only their target – it seems that star employees who are retained have also been asked to be approached. With relatively fragile situation in these employees’ companies, the headhunter’s job in persuading them to make a switch will be made easier. And if you’re one of those sparkling assets stuck with a company facing financial difficulties, a phone call may just be around the corner.

Filled with anger and resentment, former employees of Lehman Brothers, who lost their jobs overnight after the company filed for bankruptcy 2 days ago, went online to eBay and auctioned off company items, goodies and memorabilia.

eBay users sympathizing with them have been bidding their items.

eBay is the world’s largest auction and online shopping website.

The once-mighty Lehman Brothers succumbed to financial injury, collapsed without being able to source for strong investors and able buyers that could pull it out from economic oblivion. The collapse ends its reign spanning over 150 years old of rich history.

With emotion running high, wide range of the company goods and items are made available for bidding, including bags, notepads, coffee mugs, baseball caps, t-shirt and buttons. One employee put up his coffee mug for sale and wrote a note in his eBay’s page,

“I worked here for half of my career. Bought most of my stock at a weighted average price of $45 (£26). Enough said. I guess all you employed people could use this bag to carry important documents and do complex mortgage calculations on the notepad. The only important things I have now are my Lehman stock certificates, which I plan on using to warm my apartment this winter when I can’t afford the heating bill.” (as published by Telegraph.co.uk)

For Lehman’ former employees, their final day at work which was filled with tears is something they want to quickly forget. As they cleaned up their desk and walked out of the company’s building for the last time, employees in the neighboring offices were watching with sorry faces.

On the same day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the Bank of America made a move to acquire the ailing Merrill Lynch, in a move that might make the bank as the new largest bank in the world.

Certainly, it is a day full of chaos, with uncertainties lingering on the world economy.

It is also a great escape for Merrill Lynch, which has been in danger of collapsing in the same manner Lehman Brothers did.

As of June, Bank of America is ranked as the world’s second largest bank by market capitalization behind the newly crowned ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) from China. The former giant, Citibank fell from first position to 7th, the worst fall it experienced in decades.

Lehman Brothers, the leading US-based investment bank, yesterday filed for bankruptcy, in what appears to be the world’s largest bankruptcy in history. Panic attack in the US financial markets are escalating to a dangerous new height.

It is a sad and cruel ending for financial institution rich of history, spanning almost since 160 years ago. Lehman Brothers is one of the oldest firms on the Wall Street.

For months it has been sinking with a number of potential takeovers and white knights in talks, including Bank of America and Barclays Bank but all of them pulled out, leaving the company in tatters. On early September, its US operation slashed more than 1,200 jobs in a futile attempt to save the day.

Thousands of Lehman’s employees in New York and London were seen in tears and distress as they were clearing off their desk to go home. The sudden, massive job loss of over 5,000 will also go down as one of the biggest single losses of jobs in the United Kingdom. A reporter described that “people were coming out of the Lehman Brothers’ headquarter in London carrying card box boxes stuffed with their personal effects as other employees in the neighboring banks watched in horror.”

As the bankruptcy also continues to deepen the financial crisis, they could be next to empty their desks.

Earlier this year, Lehman Brothers was named among the best employers for new graduates, alongside PwC, Intel, Microsoft and L’Oreal.