Average pay at Goldman hits £280,000

GOLDMAN Sachs bankers are on course to scoop average payouts of £280,000 this year.

The 15 per cent pay rise means it would now take the typical UK worker more than ten years to earn what one of the investment bank’s staff makes in a year.

And figures released today are expected to show the average wage is just 1.6 per cent higher than it was a year ago.

Deborah Hargreaves, of campaign group the High Pay Centre, said: ‘Goldman is the extreme offender when it comes to excessive pay. There is an urgent requirement for pay restraint which we are not seeing. This shows a complete lack of sensitivity to struggling families.’

Figures released by Goldman yesterday show it has earmarked almost £7billion – or 44 per cent of its revenues – in the first nine months of the year for pay and bonuses.

Shared among its 32,600 workers worldwide – including 5,500 in London – that translates into an average package of £208,730 so far this year. This represents a 15 per cent increase on the £181,692 earned by 34,200 workers during the same period last year.

Assuming they continue earning at the same rate in the final three months of the year, the average Goldman employee will receive an annual package of £278,307.

Goldman insiders said the pay rise was justified by higher revenues. It made a profit of £930million in the past three months – compared with a £393million loss the year before.