"I am applying for a janitorial position at Goldman Sachs....."
The Wall Street Journal came up with this interesting note - Goldman Sachs (GS) had set aside $9.2 billion for 2005 employee bonuses as of the end of its third quarter in late August. That's an average of $420,000 for each of its 22,000 employees!! $420,000 in just BONUSES. Thanx to my friend Sandhya who led me towards this interesting piece of information.
Ofcourse if you read the article on Businessweek last week on Microsoft, you'd know that even our General Managers could make only about $1M in salary and the next level at $300K-500K a year in compensation if they met their goals and No - I am not a GM here, neither am I next level down. So 420Grand in Bonuses is a figure that puts in perspective where I am in the rat race - and at last estimate I am still in line trying to get tickets for the rat-race!
Anyways I read that article 3 times before realising maybe the word Bonus doesnt mean the same anymore.
bo·nus
- Something given or paid in addition to what is usual or expected.
- A sum of money or an equivalent given to an employee in addition to the employee's usual compensation.
Hmmm - thats another theory of mine down the drain. Bonus still means the same.
Anyways - there was one comment that sparked this article which goes thus - "I've decided to apply for a janitorial position at Goldman," quipped former Lehman Brothers (LEH) Chief Financial Officer Bradley Hintz, now a securities industry analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. I would have loved to agree with Mr. Hintz and joined shoulders to mop that shiny Goldman floors - only those jobs are probably outsourced and I would probably not qualify for the bonus package. Bummer!