Since jobs in general are harder to find in a recession, those jobs that are available are filling up faster.

Robert Gewecke, director of fiscal and administrative services at the Graduate School of Education (GSE), says that jobs at GSE are being filled more quickly than ever.

At the Medical School, Walker says, the recession has attracted more potential employees, although the school’s overall employment has remained the same.

It is also attracting some previously unlikely candidates.

“When the dot com companies were thriving, we couldn’t hire any Internet techology specialists. Now they are finding Harvard a much more attractive place,” Walker laughs.

Looking Ahead

Huidekoper stresses that the various financial difficulties facing Harvard’s graduate schools will not detract from the University’s core mission: teaching and education.

The University is looking to improve undergraduate education and to hire new faculty, though it will not focus on launching new initiatives or expanding existing programs.

Administrators are watching nervously to see what financial news the coming months bring.

“We’re working on how this is going to affect us in the next two to three years. The more the recession persists, this is going to get harder and harder,” Huidekoper says.

—Staff writer Elizabeth S. Theodore contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Jenifer L. Steinhardt can be reached at steinhar@fas.harvard.edu.