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 survey by glassdoor.com, a career website. 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, 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 U.S. 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 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 for their time. 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.

One anonymous reviewer, identified as a past employee, called Goldman a great place, noting that the brand name and compensation are its greatest assets. But the reviewer also stressed the long hours.

They overwork you, said the reviewer, 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, Pennsylvania.

(Reporting by Steve Eder; editing by John Wallace)

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