The global survey of finance professionals carried out by recruiters Selby Jennings also found over a third of bankers working in the City were dissatisfied with their bonuses for the year (35%).

In both London and the global survey, 48% of respondents said their pay was unfair even when asked to take current market conditions into account.

Of the City workers, 41% reported a basic salary of between £50,001 and £100,000; while 22% took home less than £50,000 and 2% reported pay of £300,001 to £350,000.

The survey also found just over 11% of City-based finance professionals receive a bonus of 100% or more as a percentage of their base salary, compared to 9% of bankers globally.

Some 80% of London-based bankers said receiving a bonus improves performance, according to the study, but not all believed the system was fair or rewarded good performance.

One respondent, an associate vice president at a financial firm, said: “Some of the managers I know of award bonuses based on how close/friendly the person is to himself rather than on performance. Others also wish to give higher bonuses to senior team members otherwise they will be ‘unhappy’ and leave the team”.

“I am in favour of changing bonus system to bonuses that depend to a large extend on long term performance or improvement of results (10 – 20 yrs). Now bonuses are too much related to short term targets.” said one company director.

Another added: “Our company gives flat bonuses to all. It does not incentivise exceptionalism at all.”

The report surveyed 619 bankers across all levels and departments.