Goldman tells employees, "No big purchases"

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) is asking its employees to not rub our noses in the financial melt down by being a bit more modest when it comes to spending money. Yeah, that makes us feel better...  But at least Goldman Sachs is making some money.

The New York Post is reporting that Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein warned his employees to avoid making big-ticket, high-profile purchases as the gold-plated Wall Street firm hunkers down amid a firestorm of public and political anger over outsize bonus payments.

"This is a sensitive time for us, and (Blankfein) wants to make sure that we're not being seen living high on the hog," one Goldman executive told the Post.

Last month, Goldman said it set aside a nice, round $11.36 billion for employee compensation and benefits through the first half of 2009, which includes salaries and annual bonuses. That averages to about $386,429 for each of the company's 29,400 employees, consultants and temporary workers. Not so bad for a company that received $10 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds last fall amid the market meltdown -- although Goldman has since paid those funds back.

Goldman's net revenue was $23.2 billion at the midpoint of 2009, 31% higher than last year. Goldman is setting aside just under 50% of that figure for its compensation pool, which is typical for a large financial services company.

Last year, Goldman's compensation figure was $8.52 billion, or $243,514 per worker -- there were about 35,000 employees then.

Senior managers were told to caution their employees that Goldman's whopping $2.3 billion in second-quarter profit would not necessarily translate to big, fat bonuses yet, according to the report. Blankfein apparently reminded staff that bonuses  are based on full-year results, and there are six months to go.