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Original poster

Anyone have the energy to discuss the Goldman sacs bonuses?

107 replies

1dilemma · 17/12/2008 23:17

I heard this as I was running out of the house so I'm not giving super accurate figures, it's over 100,000 pounds on average isn't it (and no doubt to be replicated in many banks), nurses have been capped below inflation for 3 years I believe (admittedly a poor decision by their leaders but....) and over 25,000 Woolies staff are loosing their jobs. In the light of the global financial situation and the gov bailouts it's not really OK is it?
I feel for the poor Woolies staff, what a time to hear such news.

OP posts:
jujumaman · 19/12/2008 11:54

I may be repeating what someone else has said but ...

Can't people see that the people with 100k plus bonuses are vital if the rest of us are going to keep our jobs?

We should be happy some people are getting some money and will be spending it. If a GS staffer doesn't get his/her bonus the result would be they'd cancel planned building work on their house, leaving said builder with less work stop having regular highlights, leaving said hairdresser with less work, stop going to the gym - meaning the gym will sack some employees, stp using taxis - meaning taxi drivers will suffer, stop eating in restaurants and so on and on and on. These people in turn will spend less and it will go on down the chain.

Cash keeps the economy turning.

Not giving a GS employee a bonus will not bring Woolies back to life. If more people had spent in Woolies this wouldn't have happened. It's an absurd correlation to make.

DeckTheHallsWithBling · 19/12/2008 11:57

Especially as I doubt GS big bonus types don't spend much money in Woolies!

DeckTheHallsWithBling · 19/12/2008 11:57

Grrr, sorry,

Especially as I doubt GS big bonus types spend much money in Woolies.

georgiemum · 19/12/2008 12:05

But their nannies and housekeepers probably do and if their hours have to be cut back...

That's it - the fat cats have killed woolies.

Anna8888 · 19/12/2008 12:08

Woolworths has been in a bad way for ages. It was dying - but, like lots of terminal illnesses, no-one could quite predict when death would finally come. Like for lots of ill people, a change in climate (economic in the case of Woolworths) sounded the death knell.

georgiemum · 19/12/2008 12:13

I remember asking staff in the summer if they were closing down - it seemed to be on the way down then.

Anna8888 · 19/12/2008 12:16

The Woolworths saga has been going on for a lot longer than that - anyone who reads about retail in the business and financial press knew that Woolworths was a sinking ship.

FioFio · 19/12/2008 12:20

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Anna8888 · 19/12/2008 12:22

Aren't 100K bonuses vulgar all the time? It doesn't stop them being lovely to have though as long as you spend invest them discreetly wisely.

edam · 19/12/2008 12:24

£100k is a figure Wannabe gave as an example. I'm aware that it's considered nothing to shout about in the bizarre world of high finance. Just shows how nuts the whole thing is.

A little humility would be appropriate now the whole thing has been revealed as the Emperor's New Clothes.

But no, seems the industry is still noticeable for greed, arrogance and stupidity. What on earth WILL it take for those involved to 'fess up?

ByThePowerOfBaileys · 19/12/2008 12:25

Flowery is absolutely right - it isn't any of our business. it isn't public money.

FioFio · 19/12/2008 12:27

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edam · 19/12/2008 12:35

Hang on, one minute the supporters of financiers are saying the rest of us should be tugging our forelocks in gratitude for these bonuses because it all trickles down.

The next minute other supporters of financiers are saying the bonuses are none of our business.

Both cannot be true.

cestlavie · 19/12/2008 12:41

Edam: sorry, you don't seem to have responded to my previous posts. What is the point you're making here? That all people working in financial services have done bad things which have made it bad for everyone else and that therefore they should all be punished for it? Please tell me there's more to it than that...

Libraloveschristmas1975 · 19/12/2008 15:29

Edam none of us "supporters of financiers" are saying you should be tugging our forelocks what we are saying is that their money causes jobs. It's called economics.

Litchick · 19/12/2008 16:08

I don't get this at all.
If a private company decides to pay its emplyees a bonus what's that got to do with anyone else?
If my publisher decides to give me an advance of 100k is that disgusting, vilgar and selfish?

FairyMum · 19/12/2008 18:11

Not everyone who works for GS get huge bonuses. There are lots of people who work for GS on similar wages as nurses with no bonuses. Its funny how people seem to think everyone in banking earn big salaries. Not true at all.

gomez · 19/12/2008 18:19

The payments may be contractual which actually leaves Goldman Sachs very little optuion. If part of your contracted remuneration is a bonus why shouldn't it be paid? A company, regardless of its market sector can't decide to just not pay because the shit has hit the fan. They may of course choose to negotiate somewhat different packages or targets for the coming years....

NotQuiteCockney · 20/12/2008 07:33

People in banking on nursing salaries? No, not afaik. There are lots of people on 30K or 40K, with small bonuses.

From what I know, though, the people working in those buildings who are really paid crap, the cleaners, the people working in the canteen, are generally not directly employed by GS, they work for contracting companies.

Bonuses are generally not contracted - the point is that the company can shrink them as needed. They are expected, though.

FairyMum · 21/12/2008 12:02

NotQuiteCockney, I work in banking. There are lots of people who work in banks who are not on salaries of 30 or 40K. There are people who work in customer services, back office roles, admin roles who are on not big salaries and who do not get bonuses.

FairyMum · 21/12/2008 12:05

I think its a big mistake to think that most of the people who are made redundant in banking are people on massive salaries. Most of the people I know in banking earn fairly normal salaries.

NotQuiteCockney · 21/12/2008 13:32

Oh, wait - when you say banking, do you mean like high street banks? They pay lots of people poorly, sure.

When I said banking, I meant investment banking (like Goldmans). I've never worked in retail banking.

TheBlonde · 21/12/2008 13:52

It's the norm in the sector
People will be expecting and counting on their bonuses.
Whether they will change with the change in the economy/markets who knows
I guess we may see total compensation increasing but I'm sure the banks would prefer to pay year end bonuses instead

FairyMum · 21/12/2008 14:09

I don't mean high street banks. I work in an investment bank (not GS) and have worked for investment banks for the past 12 years. I am not sure which bank you work for if everyone are earning huge salaries and getting huge bonuses. Its normal for a bank to award the huge salaries to people who actually make the money. There are lots of dep in banks which are just cost-dep. My friend who works in documentation for a different bank to me earns a salary of £24. Last year she was very happy to get an unexpected £800 bonus and a 1% pay rise. I am not sure she would agree with TheBlonde about bonuses being the norm in this sector. There are so many different jobs in a bank, you cannot generalise what people earn nor about bonuses. I think its very much like a hosptal where you have the consultants at the top earning a small fortune and the nurses slagging away on mini-salaries at the bottom of the hierarchy.

It could be of course that GS are paying generous salaries to all their staff and awarding equally generous bonuses to all. I don't know GS well enough to say this is not the case, but it would make them a pretty unique bank and I would send them my CV asap.

FairyMum · 21/12/2008 14:10

sorry, that should be a salary of 24K...LOL