Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS) is the bank many Americans love to hate, but one group loves it: its employees.

The firm’s employees are among the most fiercely loyal in the financial services industry, according to a survey by www.glassdoor.com , a career website. And Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein had the highest approval rating of any CEO in the financial sector.

www.Glassdoor.com survey was done online, which means it is not exactly scientific, but any good news is surely welcome at Goldman, which is fresh off settling civil fraud charges with US securities regulators. The lawsuit set off a public relations nightmare that led some inside the bank to question whether Blankfein should be ousted.

Goldman got top marks from its employees in seven of eight categories; career opportunities, communication, employee morale, recognition and feedback, senior leadership, and fairness and respect, according to the survey.

The only area where it lagged behind its closest rivals was work/life balance, where it came in behind Bank of America Corp’s (BAC) Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, Inc. (C) and tied with JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM).

Goldman employees are known for working long hours and being on call around the clock, but they are often paid handsomely for their time. Goldman doled out US$16.2B in bonuses and salary in Y 2009.

To be included in the Financial Services Industry Report Card, firms had to have at least 20 reviews submitted by employees on glassdoor.com, a site with information about jobs, salaries and companies.

Goldman had 302 employee reviews as of July 29. —Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. www.livetradingnews.com

Posted by Shayne Heffernan on Jul 31st, 2010and filed underEquities, Latest News, Markets, USA.You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site