But the plunge in the deal pipeline prompted soul-searching and job-hopping among investment bankers accustomed to a feast. Barclays, which has struggled to retain bankers following a shake-up in the management of its investment banking division, has lost at least nine top technology bankers in recent weeks. Traditionally, smaller firms have been reluctant to offer investment bankers guaranteed compensation, in order to have more of their pay tied to performance. Alan Johnson, managing director of compensation consultancy Johnson Associates, said that first-year guarantees were common practice in the hiring of investment bankers, but second-year guarantee used to be rare. "You get paid a higher percentage of revenue than in a big bank, but you have to generate the revenue with perhaps less help," Johnson said.

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Persons: Goldman Sachs, Sam Britton, Britton, Anthony Keizner, Goldman, Nick Pomponi, Rob Chisholm, Troy Broderick, Goldman's, Perella Weinberg, Laurence Braham, Richard Hardegree, Steve Markovich, Ron Eliasek, Jason Auerbach, Alan Johnson, Johnson, Milana Vinn, Anirban Sen, Greg Roumeliotis, Jamie Freed Organizations: YORK, Goldman, Bank of America, Barclays, Qatalyst Partners, Jefferies Financial, Technology, LSEG, Intelligence, Search, Evercore, UBS, Centerview, Jefferies, SVB Securities, Bank, Reuters, Johnson Associates, Thomson Locations: Qatalyst, New York