Pay for middle and top level financial services workers is likely to be cut by 10%, according to a new survey.

The survey, from financial recruiters Smart Cube, found that 60% of London recruiters said that a financial downturn would hit salaries.

A third of London respondents thought pay would be cut by 10 and 20%. Two thirds of Wall Street recruiters expected the same pay cut and 70% predicted lay-offs and job cuts.

Omer Abdullah, managing director of Smart Cube, told the Financial Times: “This is becoming very much an employer’s market. We are acting as if we are in a recession and the recruiters are talking as if we are.”