Annual compensation for employees at big Wall Street firms could fall 27 percent to 30 percent from a year earlier to the lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a compensation study conducted by the Options Group.

Bonuses, which constitute a substantial part of many finance workers' pay, are on track to decline 35-40 percent, on average, according to the forecast by Options Group, an executive search and consulting firm, the Journal said.

Pay is likely to be hardest hit in areas such as fixed income, currencies and commodities, the paper said.