After four-and-a-half years of strong growth, the executive search industry began a precipitous decline late last year, capped by a year-over-year 35 percent drop in worldwide searches in the first quarter of 2009, says an industry report by the Association of Executive Search Consultants. The survey was limited to four global AESC member firms representing 1500 search consultants in 46 countries. AESC considers the results to be valuable trend data including the finding that revenue at these firms declined 38 percent during the period. The report shows searches in all industries were down, with the nonprofit sector hit hardest, new searches there plummeting 49 percent… Read More