Pity the poor souls at Goldman Sachs. The private investment bank has slashed staff bonuses this year, in some cases to less than 10 per cent of annual salary, staff at the firm have said.

A Goldman spokesman in London declined to comment, saying the bank never discloses information about remuneration.

But several staffers said bonuses had been reduced from up to 40 per cent last year to as little 5 or 6 per cent. Staff affected by the cuts, they said, did not include Goldman partners - a group including Peter Sutherland - reputed to earn some of the largest salaries on Wall Street.

Goldman bonuses have averaged roughly 25 per cent per year over the past five years for staff throughout the firm, according to one staff member.

According to one employee, the formula is no longer an across-the-board percentage increase, and the size of a salary is weighted against the planned bonus.