DESPITE some brokerage job losses, some sectors of the real estate business still have openings.

“Real estate is a tangible investment class – even in bad times it needs to be maintained, leased, managed and worked-out,” said Eric Goldstein, a partner with the executive search consultants, Rhodes Associates said.

Goldstein says there are still bright spots where demand for top executives remains strong. These areas include investor relations, capital raising, asset management, workout specialists, finance and accounting, and leasing on the owner’s side.

Of course, all these openings are for experienced people. Some employers are using this time to upgrade talent with professionals who were previously happy or locked into firms due to stock options and other considerations.

“Executives’ golden handcuffs have been unlocked since, in most cases, the value of their deferred equity holdings has been deeply impaired,” said Goldstein.

Whereas in the past, these employees would never have thought to walk away from items like stock options, they are simply not worth what they were.

“Six months ago they would have never considered leaving $5 million on the table.”

Corporations with large real estate holdings are also reassessing their talent and recruiting more experienced real estate players to optimize their corporate real estate function.

Search firms in general work for the hiring companies for fees that range from about one-third of the first year’s salary to a flat fee for the million-dollar jobs. But all recruiters are eager to meet new candidates for possible future openings.

“We are doing a lot of grief counseling,” Goldstein. “A lot of folks have very specific skills and need to reinvent themselves. Executives come to us, and while we don’t work for them, we network every day and we do try to help them.”