Goldman Sachs Compensation Falls Amid Revenue Decline

With New York-based Goldman Sachs group reporting a fourth-quarter revenue decline of 26 percent, the bank was forced to eliminate 2,400 finance jobs last year and reduce compensation and benefits by 21 percent.

Still, Bloomberg reports expenses for salaries, bonuses and benefits remained the most significant cost for Goldman, at $367,057 for each of its 33,300 employees. That number, however, was down markedly from the $430,700 for each of its 35,700 workers in 2010, the company's earnings data showed.

William Fitzpatrick, a financial services analyst with Manulife Asset Management, told the news source that this trend of decreasing compensation costs was likely to continue for the time being.

"Unless conditions really improve dramatically - which I think is unlikely - you’re going to see a long period of restrained wages, which we view favorably as shareholders," Fitzpatrick noted before the release of the results. "The flip side is the risk that you start losing some personnel, particularly to the hedge-fund industry."

The Associated Press reports Goldman's net income declined 58 percent during the last three months of 2011.