In news that will likely make all those Occupy Wall Street protestors cheer, New York compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates projects the average Wall Street bonus will decline by 20 percent to 30 percent this year.

While traders, bankers and top executives typically receive healthy base salaries of $100,000 to $1 million, most of their annual pay comes in the form of year-end bonuses based on individual and company performance.

“The lack of economic recovery, combined with ongoing uncertainty in the world markets, and global and regional regulation are driving most financial services firms to significantly reduce the size of their bonus pools,” said Alan Johnson, managing director of Johnson Associates. “As a result, most, but not all, professionals will receive smaller payouts this year.”

The news comes two years after record payouts for Wall Street workers, but 2011 has seen behemoths like Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, and the investment bank of JPMorgan Chase & Co post declines in earnings.

Still, don’t weep too many tears for them. In the first nine months of this year, those same institutions set aside $30.4 billion for compensation and benefits.

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