Merrill Lynch’s boss has eased the fears of Asian staff by confirming that the region will largely escape his bank’s global cull. Chief executive John Thain told a press briefing in Mumbai that the 4,000 job cuts taking place across the group will mainly affect the US.

Prakash Krishnan, a Merrill marketing manager, tells us that Thain is targeting Asia for future growth and that Singapore, where the firm employs about 1,500 people, is “one of the group’s major hubs in Asia”.

These calming comments reflect the secure but slow state of the Asian jobs market, according to Dennis Koh, managing partner of search firm Goshen Staines.

Most banks are only laying off underperformers, adds Fabrice Desmarescaux, head of Asia-Pacific financial services at headhunters Spencer Stuart: “This year, big banks like Merrill Lynch have speeded up firing their worst people, who would have gone at some stage anyway, but they don’t need to make large redundancies in Asia.”

Desmarescaux thinks i-bank staff in Singapore and Hong Kong generally feel safe where they are. For example, there’s been no flood of CVs from nervous bulge-bracket bankers in Asia looking to avoid the axe by joining smaller regional firms: “95% of people here aren’t worried about losing their jobs, but there has been an increase in applicants from the US and Europe wanting to work in Asia.”

Asian bonuses, rather than jobs, could bear the brunt of the credit crunch, says Desmarescaux. “The Asian bonus pool could be disproportionately affected and may have to bail out the US and UK.”

Merrill bankers buoyed by the news on jobs can also look forward to a flash new harbour front HQ in the Lion City, which opens next year, according to Krishnan. In a sign of future hiring, its capacity will be 2,000. The building will house a global services centre for private banking and global markets.