You’ve Got the Job! See You in Six Months

Is there such a thing as job security without a job? In this recession, anything’s possible.

To balance a strict hiring freeze with the need to secure talent, more and more employers are signing up new hires with delayed start dates, some as long as six to eight months away.

In a new CareerBuilder survey, one in ten of more than 2,500 hiring managers, HR managers and other recruiters said they’ve recently offered positions with postponed start dates. The move allows them to develop staff for the future, while keeping the current headcount down as the recession lingers.

Less than half of these recruiters said they provided a pay incentive to new hires who were willing to wait out the downturn, the survey found.

The new strategy comes as employers face the allure of a buyers’ market for talent at a time when few have the resources to take them on…