Rising unemployment worldwide made 2009 a bleak year for corporate hiring. But GMAC’s year-end follow-up poll of employers who had participated in the 2009 Corporate Recruiters Survey suggests that the year didn’t end up as bad as many anticipated.

Although 68 percent of the employers surveyed in February and March expected that economic conditions would have a negative effect on their businesses, just 31 percent of those surveyed in November’s follow-up poll thought that the situation had gotten worse. And employers were more optimistic about 2010—some 70 percent expect that their business would improve next year.

Key findings:

• There’s a high level of uncertainty in hiring plans, with 16 percent to 26 percent unsure what sort of candidates they’ll hire in 2010.
• The top three types of candidates reported by firms that continued hiring in 2009 were experienced hires (80 percent), recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree (73 percent), and recent MBA graduates (65 percent).
• Some 69 percent expect to hire new MBAs in 2010, up from 65 percent, but slightly fewer employers expect to hire recent graduates with Masters in Management and other specialized master’s degrees.
• Across all types of hires, at least a third of employers hired fewer candidates in 2009 than they initially planned, and only 4 percent to 11 percent hired more. But 27 percent to 43 percent of firms planned to hire more candidates in 2010.
• About half the employers expect salaries to remain at 2009 levels, especially for recent graduates.

The year-end follow-up poll of employers is based on responses from 317 employers representing 287 companies. They include 212 employers from 172 US companies and 105 employers from 115 companies in 35 other countries. In the United States, participants represent firms in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

Help facilitate the 2010 Corporate Recruiters Survey

Business schools can sign up to facilitate the 2010 Corporate Recruiters Survey by January 15. Facilitating the study can be as easy as emailing a spreadsheet of recruiter contacts, who will be invited to participate. Schools that participate receive free, individualized benchmarking reports that help them gauge their market competitiveness with other schools.

“Business school participation is essential to this research, and we greatly appreciate their contribution,” says GMAC research analyst Marina Murray. “The synergy of 157 schools that facilitated this study provided guidance for the entire industry—for the past six months, for example, nearly 2,500 users downloaded publicly available versions of 2009 Corporate Recruiters reports at gmac.com.”