(FORTUNE Magazine) – The salary is fat, the benefits generous, and the office has a terrific view. Sounds tempting, but nowadays a growing number of executives are insisting on something more before taking that new job: They want to see, in writing, what they will be paid if they are fired. The International Association of Corporate and Professional Recruiters of Louisville, Kentucky, surveyed 550 executive search firms and found that 1,584 job-hunting executives ranked as senior managers and above negotiated severance pay before signing on with a new company last year. That's a 13% increase over 1989. Says David Richardson, executive VP of the Chicago search firm DHR International: ''Five years ago it wasn't even talked about, and now it's paramount. People ask, 'If this division is spun off or downsized, what happens to me?' '' Severance agreements, which have long been common in the entertainment industry, typically cover a period of one or two years. A fairly standard deal provides that if an employee is fired in that time, the company will pay a year's salary. Obviously, a prospective boss is unlikely to suggest such an arrangement. But Howard Pines, president of the New York City outplacement firm Beam Pines, points out that companies are less loyal and jobs less stable, and notes that 75% of the executives at big companies can expect to be laid off at least ; once. Says he: ''Today it may take a year to find a job, and you might have to go to Arkansas. People need to be more protective of themselves.'' J.R.