The poor little lambs. How in the world are they going to survive on $400,000 (average, per person) a year? Goldman is also looking at outsourcing HR and other non-revenue generating functions to help the bottom line. Won’t it be interesting to see when the traders themselves eventually are outsourced? They are hardly the invaluable experts that they think they are.

Wall Street traders, who typically receive the fattest year-end bonuses among bank employees, are poised to suffer the biggest pay cuts as revenue at their divisions dropped an average of 12 percent so far this year.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the New York-based bank that makes most of its money from trading and set a Wall Street pay record in 2007, slashed average compensation 26 percent in the first nine months. By contrast, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp., which employs branch managers and brokers as well as bankers and traders, raised average pay 10 percent.

While some compensation consultants say traders’ pay will rebound as soon as revenue recovers, new regulation and capital requirements may lead to sustained reductions in the multimillion-dollar awards that sparked popular outrage and spurred investigations by politicians and regulators after the 2008 financial crisis, analysts say.