Nervous Lehman employees looking elsewhere?

By Jonathan Spicer and Olesya Dmitracova

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Many employees at Lehman Brothers LEH.N, noted for their loyalty to the investment bank, may be looking for jobs elsewhere as their employer's health worsens -- and recruiters are anxious to give them a hand.

One employee in London said on Thursday he has received several calls from headhunters, as rivals see hiring opportunities in the expected exodus -- which would deepen the pool of talent made available by the global credit crunch and financial-sector layoffs.

Lehman had 25,935 employees at the end of August.

"Lehman people are starting to wake up and see what else is out there," said Gary Goldstein, president of Whitney Group, a New York-based executive search group that specializes in financial services and counts Lehman as a client.

"I'm in touch with a lot of people there who are very nervous, and up until now had been loyalists who never considered anything other than staying at Lehman for their career," he said in an interview.

However, some employees say they're holding on, and hoping the storied Wall Street firm will be able to survive intact as it scrambles to unload assets that have muddied its balance sheet and crippled its stock.

"It would be a shame if it all fell through," said the Lehman employee in London. "I enjoy working here. I had quite a few calls from headhunters about a month ago.

"When you called, I thought it was a headhunter," he told Reuters.