Wall Streeters are preparing for a year of deflated bonuses that will be around 25% of last year's*, according to one of our sources at a big U.S. bank.

According to recruiter Michael Karp of Options Group, who told Bloomberg that he met last month with a trader who made $500,000 last year at one of the six largest U.S. banks, an unnamed 27-year-old trader says the decrease in pay is "demoralizing."

The trader, an Ivy League graduate, complained that he has worked harder this year and will be paid less. According to Bloomberg, the headhunter told him to stay put and collect his bonus.

*JPMorgan, for example, will pay employees out of a compensation pool that, as a percentage of the firm's revenues, is lower this year than the compensation pool out of which newspapers will pay their employees, according to CEO Jamie Dimon.

Don't miss: How Wall Street's anti-bonus culture is making layoffs worse