Some seniors who thought they had secured jobs after graduation are now back on the job market, after a number of consulting and investment banking firms have sent out notices that their services will no longer be needed-the result of a faltering economy.

While rescinding an actual offer represents the most severe cutback measure, some companies have taken other steps to save money.

A number have asked students to postpone their starting dates in hope of a future economic upswing, offering only small compensation in the interim.

"This is an unsettling phenomenon," said Bill Wright-Swadel, Harvard's director of Career Services.

Three weeks ago, Swadell counseled a group of seniors whose corporate job offers were recently rescinded.

"For students making their first transition into the job world, this is particularly difficult to deal with," Wright-Swadel said.

Karen O. Sullivan of the Cambridge Strategic Management Group (CSMG), a consulting firm based in Boston and the U.K., said that her company rescinded offers from students at other universities, but not yet at Harvard.

While CSMG's full-time hires used to begin in the summer, the firm has pushed backed this year's starting date to the fall.