Wall Street Whispers: Goldman's Rep (And Hank Paulson's)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- For all the negativity surrounding Goldman Sachs (GS) for the past few months, it may be surprising to hear that people still really love working there, really want jobs there and really support its much-maligned CEO Lloyd Blankfein.

Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

An analysis of employee sentiment by Glassdoor.com to be released on Friday found Goldman to be the best bank to work at, with Blankfein receiving a 97% approval rate. Goldman ranked No. 2 on list of 113 financial firms, receiving a 3.8 rating out of a possible 5. (It's just behind Susquehanna International Group, another Wall Street firm that's privately-owned.)

The results show exactly what Wall Street's been whispering about, though not saying directly to Main Street: We're no more guilty than you and we like who we are better.

Bank executives grumbled about taking the taxpayer dollars they used as a crutch for survival. Instead of supporting regulations to protect the system, banks are now working to find ways around them. Instead of explaining its role in the broader economy, Wall Street shrugged off a wave of public disapproval with an attitude that screamed: "Who cares what they think? We're smarter than them anyway."

The arrogance is astonishing to those in the "real economy" who are trying to make ends meet while the banking industry prospers. Since the backlash became more pronounced, banks haven't been saying much publicly about how they're often characterized by politicians and the press -- mainly because their attempts at damage-control have so far fanned the flames of discontent.

Wall Street may never apologize for its wrongs. In fact, bankers, traders, management and their lawyers often seem befuddled by the demand for remorse.

For instance, Ed Rataj, managing director of compensation consulting at CBIZ Human Capital Services, explains how board members view the public firestorm over multi-million-dollar pay packages at bailed-out firms.

"I don't think it's changed the perception of what the right thing is among board members," he said in a recent Q&A with TheStreet. "I think board members' perception of what the right thing is hasn't changed. The question is, 'Can we do the right thing without the politicians or the media grandstanding about it?'"