It was only recently that GlobalCapital reported on both the huge amounts of business being done in the capital markets and the tussle between banks to hire enough staff to cope with it all. Record volumes meant soaring pay, especially among the massed legions of junior bankers as firms competed for staff. But the equity capital markets in particular have just had a dreadful quarter with very few pockets of activity and some recently hectic parts of the market all but closed. Already, bankers are starting to fear lay-offs cannot be far away. We discuss this week whether they are right to fear a wave of redundancies or whether this is a knee-jerk reaction and that business will come bounding back as markets grow used to life with inflation, the war in Ukraine and its wider economic effects.We also highlight how certain groups of investors are returning to parts of the bond market they had abandoned for years, proving that rising rates and widening credit spreads are not all bad news for bond issuers.