Some laid-off workers in the financial services industry have grown so desperate to return to employment that they are offering to work for nothing.

Christophe Chouard, head of sales at French fund of hedge funds manager HDF Finance, said: "People have been sending their CVs to our New York office saying, 'hire me for free for six months'. The CVs we are receiving are pretty good. These people are saying, 'just let me show you what I can do'."