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

The firm’s employees are among the most fiercely loyal in the financial services industry, according to a survet by glassdoor.com, a career Web site. And Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein had the highest approval rating of any CEO in the financial sector.
Glassdoor.com’s survey was done online. So it is not exactly scientific,but is welcome at  Goldman, which is fresh off settling civil fraud charges with U.S. securities regulators. The lawsuit set off a public relations nightmare that led some in the bank to question whether Blankfein should be ousted.

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

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

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

“They overwork you,” said one anonymous reviewer,  identified as a past employee who gave the firm a perfect score. “Upward mobility is pretty unavailable. People envy you for working there and it’s pretty bad. You can’t move around.”

The only firm to get better marks than Goldman in the survey was Susquehanna International Group, a trading company headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.