As the competition gets tougher on job seekers to find the perfect opportunity to work, so is the case with employers on hunt for recruiting brightest talent on board. With boom in the job market and no dearth of job opportunities for the passionate job seeker, the world is a market place and employers are finding it increasingly challenging to not just allure candidates but also retain the best talent.

According to a recent joint study conducted by EY (Ernst & Young) and NHRDN (National Human Resources Development Network) titled  Talent Trends in India – 2015, the findings reveal organisations looking for unconventional means to reach out to the passive workforce, through social networks and references.

As the talent war scales up in intensity, employers are now choosing to move out of their comfort zones and go on hunting spree in Tier II and Tier III cities, where talent exists in abundance and opportunities lack. Hiring candidates from these cities provide companies with a unique combination of cost benefits, scalable talent pool and depth of prerequisite skill sets for performing on job.

In another interesting news piece, India’s home grown e-commerce start-ups are now heading to the Silicon Valley to recruit top-notch talent. It seems the intensity is flaring up on the talent on the talent management fronts for HRs from Gen Y.

See: Employer Branding Strategies to Attract Talent

“India is ultra-exciting, the e-commerce market here is expanding at a faster pace than even the United States so the career upside is huge for these executives,” Rohit Bansal, co-founder and COO of Snapdeal, told Forbes.

The jobs at Indian startups are more attractive on many other counts for top-notch talent, as these e-commerce start-ups are flush with investor funds and they offer Silicon Valley salaries, plus attractive stock options for those getting on board. What more could a talented employee ask for?

The study further revealed interesting findings to indicate increased attrition annually in customer-centric job roles and production/operation areas.

On the contrary, lower attrition was observed in the top senior and management levels within established organisations of repute and credibility. This proves that retaining talent in junior and mid-level management positions in customer centric job roles is difficult.

According to the report, “Organisations believe they have best-in-class capability in the areas of employee engagement, compliance with labour regulations and in rewarding performance. Managerial coaching, management of diversity and change management are areas in which significant capability is required.”

Also finding candidates for mid and junior level positions is quite easy and the vacancy when listed gets filled within two months, however when it comes to top management positions there is dearth of talent and experience.

Top management positions remain vacant for prolonged periods, close to six months and sometimes even a year. This study presents an insider’s story on the talent trends across 11 industries in India, and business managers, HR leaders, Vice Presidents and CXOs responded to this survey.

“Talent management has always been at the forefront of human capital-related issues, but it is not an area of strength for many organizations. In fact, failures in talent management are an ongoing source of concern for many of them, which tend to shift from having a surplus of talent to a shortfall in their number,” the Talent Trends report stated.

Also read: Figuring Out How Much to Pay Top Talent