Conducted between November 5 and November 19, 2008, this survey was designed to help benchmark relevant statistics for employers and to give business schools and students an advance look at 2009 job market prospects.

Among the November survey’s key findings:

• Although more than one-fourth of respondents said their companies were highly (17 percent) or extremely (10 percent) affected by the global economic slowdown in 2008, nearly 4 in ten employers reported that their firms were slightly (32 percent) or not at all (6 percent) affected. Manufacturing and finance and accounting firms were impacted the most, energy and utilities companies as well as nonprofit and government organizations were affected the least.
• Employers expect that it will be more difficult to cope with the economic turmoil in 2009. Harder economic consequences faced by the companies in 2008 led to the more pessimistic 2009 projections, including hiring projections for all types of candidates.
• Experienced direct-industry hires (42 percent), recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree (38 percent), and recent MBA graduates (33 percent) are the top three groups of candidates that employers said they would definitely hire in 2009.
• Overall, salaries for 2009 MBA graduate hires will likely remain at the 2008 level. Yet, the majority of nonprofit and government organizations as well as energy and utilities firms plan to increase average annual base salaries for new MBAs in 2009.

The poll results are based on responses from 257 employers representing 220 companies. Of these, 212 are employers from 177 companies in the United States, and 45 are employers from 43 companies outside of the United States, mainly in the European Union.