Consultancy Centre for Economics & Business Research is predicting that at least 4,000 finance jobs will go next year in London. Meanwhile, an anonymous trader reports on the travails of the once high-fliers in the City.

Of the at least 4,000 job cuts, “the investment banking sector will see the most cuts at 2,300, followed by fund management at 1,600,” said the CEBR, as reported by the Telegraph. That’s out of a predicted total of 6,500 cuts next year for London.

2,000 jobs may go in London by Christmas, reported the IHT. And some new grads are being told not to show up at all, reports the Telegraph.

Meanwhile, those at Goldman are sitting pretty. An anonymous source tells the Telegraph: ‘”Goldman’s bankers reckon the bonus pool is almost intact.”

Just how are London’s financiers dealing with the situation? One anonymous bond trader (expectation of getting fired by year end: 40%) advises that to get into the flow of office gossip, chat up your pseudo-friends in IT, who are called upon to start monitoring and backing up files for targeted employees oftentimes weeks in advance.

Other telltale signs of an imminent firing include finding yourself called into a “departure lounge” (layoff speak for a conference room), or perhaps getting inquiries about “irregularities” on your resume (a sneaky way to reduce comp).