The Street May Be Getting Ready to Shed Some Senior Bankers

May could be a gloomy month for some senior investment bankers. Or at least that's the word rumbling around Wall Street this afternoon.

Some of the biggest players, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are reportedly getting ready to slash a few dozen jobs including some senior bankers, according to the Wall Street Journal, which quotes people familiar with the matter who claim there are not enough deals to justify the number of bankers.

The unnamed sources claimed the cuts could come as early as next month.

The Journal points out that declines in deal activity come as pay has already fallen across Wall Street and that until recently, Wall Street's axe had largely fallen on trading desks, which shed thousands of jobs as business dried up due to regulations and lackluster markets.

Until now, deal makers and corporate advisers had managed to avoid the axe that hit traders and other capital markets professionals. As usual, the first to feel the pinch will be those of a certain age (think retirement) or anyone deemed an under-performer, according to people familiar with the situation.

Some bankers say there is a bright future for deal action with some big action in the pipeline. But it has already been reported that global M&A revenue fell more than 17 percent drop in Q1 from the same period a year ago and the lowest quarterly revenue total since the first quarter of 2010, according to Dealogic. It seems history is once again beating out future potential when it comes to determining who gets to stay and play in the investment banking game.