Fortune 500 companies, take note: Google’s free gourmet food goes a long way in keeping employees happy. Or so say almost a quarter of all MBA students polled on where they most want to work after graduation.

Asked to name five sought-after employers, 23.65% cited Google, according to the poll of 5,769 students at 52 business schools by research firm Universum Communications in an exclusive Fortune.com list. Management consultant McKinsey & Co. came in second, appearing on 15.84% of students’ wish lists, and investment bank Goldman Sachs was selected by 14.98%.

Catherine Clifford’s recent CNNMoney.com article finds that MBAs are attracted to Google because they “really get a lot of responsibility right at the outset,” says Yvonne Agyei, Google’s director of global university programs. “MBAs are looking for the opportunity to make an impact.”

But management consulting and financial services remain popular among MBAs, with 20% seeking work in consulting and 19% in financial services, Universum found. Meanwhile, smaller firms, companies with strong retail brands, and even some government agencies have inched upward in the rankings.

This year, the CIA ranks no. 37, up from no. 74 last year. Meanwhile, the FBI is in 47th place, up from 89 last year. And among women MBAs, the Department of Defense - Missiles and Weapons Division ranks No. 99.

Clifford points out some big differences between the sexes when it comes to where MBAs want to work. Among women, companies with recognizable brand names like Apple (ranked no. 3 by women, vs. no. 6 by men), Disney (7 vs. 14), Nike (9 vs. 13), and Starbucks (10 vs. 28) ranked higher. Among men, however, the survey shows that finance and consulting firms like JPMorgan (ranked no. 7 by men, vs. 13 by women) General Electric (8 vs. 16) and Morgan Stanley (10 vs. 19) tended to be more popular.

Now, if these guys would institute a fully subsidized canteen, their numbers would surely skyrocket!

A weak global economy hasn’t staunched employers’ interest in hiring MBAs, a recent survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) reports. In fact, the proportion of respondents to the annual GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey who are preparing to hire new MBAs is higher this year than it was in 2007.

“Through economic slowdowns, as well as expansions, organizations see value in the skills that MBAs bring to the table,” says GMAC’s president and CEO David A. Wilson. “Even as there is serious retrenchment going on at investment houses, more companies in the finance and accounting industry plan to hire MBAs than did last year.”

There’s good news on the salary front as well, the survey has found. Most employers expect salaries to rise at the rate of inflation or better despite a rough economic climate that is seeing many firms cut back. “The preliminary salary projections are encouraging and do speak to the value of the skill and experience MBAs bring,” says Tom Kozicki, president of the MBA Career Services Council and executive director of MBA career services at the Paul Merage School of Business.

Corporate recruiters told GMAC researchers that this stable employment outlook for business school graduates reflects widespread respect among employers for people with MBAs. According to the press release, employers especially value business school graduates for their management knowledge and communications skills—traits that are as prominent among MBAs in a weak economy as they are when times are flush. The technical and quantitative skills typically emphasized by MBA programs also are selling points for recruiters.

So don’t let the economic slowdown get you down. Turns out that mega B-school debt will still be worth it.

Though the job market may seem grim at first blush, the Economist finds that both business schools and MBA students have an upbeat outlook on the economy and their job prospects after graduation.

According to the UK news magazine, there are several reasons for the rosy attitude. To begin, commentators dither about whether the United States is truly in a recession, and if so, how severe it will become. Some argue that an economic upturn may begin later this year.

Secondly, rather than hanging all their hopes on stellar salaried positions in investment banking—one of the sectors suffering the greatest economic woes—MBA students are taking a more realistic approach and applying for internships and jobs at standard corporations. The Economist points out that while top job offers have slipped, so far MBAs have not seen internships or job offers dry up; nor have they experienced lay-offs a few months in, as happened rampantly after the 2000 dotcom crash.

At this point, the effect on MBA admissions appears minimal, with no marked downward trend in applications. In the UK, nearly 60,000 students took the GMAT in the first quarter of 2008—a 12% increase over the same period in 2007. Meanwhile, the increase in the United States was 8% and elsewhere 19%, the article states.

MBAs have weathered economic downturns in the past, particularly the global recession of the 1990s and the aforementioned dotcom crash, the Economist notes. But even if the MBA degree is not the golden ticket to a dream job, business schools continue to attract. As IESE dean Jordi Canals points out, when you have been in the B-school world for a while you appreciate how the business cycle works.

Surviving downturns is the only option.

While salary is still a high priority for MBA students at top schools, the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education (Aspen CBE) has just released a survey revealing that more of them, especially women, place greater importance on business’s responsibility to society. For those unfamiliar with Aspen CBE, this international nonprofit seeks to create business leaders for the 21st century who are equipped with the vision and knowledge necessary to integrate corporate profitability with social value.

The survey titled “Where Will They Lead? MBA Student Attitudes About Business and Society (2008)”, conducted in fall 2007, probed the thoughts of 1,943 students at 15 business schools around the world, from Wharton to the London Business School to the University of California, Berkeley. The questionaire addressed a variety of issues, including business ethics, business school coursework and the corporate recruitment process. The previous survey was conducted in 2002.

Through these surveys, the Aspen CBE has discovered that MBA programs definitely influence the way students think about the role of business and its relationship to society once they become managers and leaders.

“In a broader sense, the most important finding is that students seem to be taking a more holistic view of the role of business in society,” says Nancy McGaw, deputy director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program, in a press release announcing the results. “But the findings also suggest that while students may have these values, many of them sense those beliefs are not valued by employers or linked to career opportunities.”

For example, only half of the respondants felt that recruiters placed a high value on personal integrity, and a mere seven percent beleive recruiters place a premium on their understanding of sociopolitical issues. The survey also found that while more of today’s students say they want a job that has a positive impact on society (25 percent, compared to just 15 percent in 2002), this priority decreases in importance for men as they move through their MBA program.

According to the press release, these findings indicate that the tension between financial compensation and pursuing a job that aligns with personal values is becoming even more pervasive as the so-called Millenials enter business schools, and that recruiters ignore these growing concerns at their own peril if they wish to attract top talent.

Click here for an executive summary with detailed findings of the MBA Student Attitudes Survey.