Bank of America-Merrill Lynch is making more positive noises about Asian hiring, in a bid to stem a recent flow of executive departures and to restore its damaged reputation in the employment market.

Last month, Merrill's wealth management head told eFinancialCareers that the firm was looking for private bankers in Asia. And now another senior executive has gone on the record to promote a broader recruitment drive.

According to Jayanti Bajpai, co-head of APAC global corporate and investment banking, Merrill is hiring in Asia Pacific because sentiment surrounding the bank has “turned a corner”.

“When I first started this job, prospective recruits were sceptical about joining. In recent weeks this attitude has changed and we are finding that applicants want to join us as they are keen to be able to work in and help build a broader business,” Bajpai said in a Financial Times interview.

The firm has taken on more than 100 people in Asia Pac – including Hong Kong and Singapore – over the past 10 weeks. A Merrill spokesman would not provide country-specific numbers, but he says recruitment is “across the board” in job functions such as investment banking, research and equities.

However, according to one recruiter who asked not to be named, Merrill is mainly targeting revenue generators, rather than support staff, so don’t expect this new hiring campaign to make up for all the recently retrenched headcount.

Merrill’s massive footprint in Asia made it an employer of choice for bankers during the mid-decade boom, but post credit-crunch and BoA-takeover, the firm has suffered an exodus of top regional staff. Only last week Terence Keyes, Merrill’s regional head of deal execution, rejoined Morgan Stanley after just 16 months in the job.

“There’s been an incredible amount of change at Merrill. Earlier this year, it would have come as an incredible surprise if Merrill was hiring anyone because so many people were being laid off or defecting,” says the anonymous headhunter.

Viewed in this context, senior-level statements like Bajpai’s are a welcome sign that the bank is fighting back on the employment front. And Merrill isn’t alone – hiring across the i-banking industry is slowly increasing, although it will remain small-scale, selective and (predominately) senior for the foreseeable future.

Headhunters have noticed a minor, cautious pick up over the last two months. “It’s not significant, but there have been some well publicised big moves and there are still openings for high calibre junior talent. Candidates with a strong Greater China focus remain marketable,” says Robert Conway, head of banking and finance at Talent2.

Pui Gardiner, a senior investment banking consultant at Webbe International in Hong Kong, says the leading i-banks are mainly taking on seniors, while second-tier players are upgrading their execution ranks.

“Hiring has increased as transaction volumes have increased and banks are regaining confidence. There has been a strong emphasis on M&A skills, and also in the hot sectors of financial institutions, natural resources, metals and mining,” adds Gardiner.