The invention relates to a method and devices for a packet switching system for traffic-load dependent power reduction in packet switching systems. In order to reduce the power consumption of a packet switching system, the method comprises the steps of determining a traffic rate for incoming data packets at the upstream packet processing device; processing the incoming data packets; transmitting an indication of the determined traffic rate from the upstream packet processing device to the downstream packet processing device at a time prior to the time that the processed data packets for which the traffic rate has been determined are transmitted to the downstream packet processing device; and adjusting available packet processing resources at the downstream packet processing device based on the received traffic rate indication.