[ by Howard Haykin ] Perhaps it's because of the "11-year itch."  Whatever the reason, Lester Brafman, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. managing director in the high-yield debt sales and trading department left this week after 11 years at the firm, according to people familiar with the matter. Brafman, 50, joined New York-based Goldman Sachs in 2001 after 6 years at Credit Suisse First Boston Inc.  Previously, he worked at Wasserstein Perella Securities Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc..  These career stops are taken from the FINRA CRD. Brafman ran high-yield debt trading at Credit Suisse and had a similar role after joining Goldman Sachs.  He's been a Goldman Sachs managing director, the 2nd-highest rank at the firm, after partner, since 2003 - just 2 years after arriving. Goldman Sachs, which generated 58% of first-half revenue from sales and trading, eliminated 20 to 30 jobs in that division this week, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday.  The firm last month reported its lowest first-half revenue since 2005 and said it would cut $500 million from costs, on top of $1.4 billion in savings already achieved. Sales of high-yield debt in the U.S. have already set a record for August as companies tap into an unprecedented $44.9 billion of cash that has poured into funds that buy junk bonds in 2012.  Yields that are near record lows and a slowdown in earnings growth have sparked concern that the market for the debt has peaked. [Bloomberg, 8/16/12]