HEADHUNTING has emerged as the top method that Singapore companies are using to recruit new staff, and it's not just senior executives that they are on the lookout for.

A new survey has showed that 72 per cent of companies here say headhunting is their preferred choice when looking for talent. Nearly a third of them turn to this technique to recruit junior officers, highlighting the intense competition for talent between employers, according to the latest employment trends survey by recruitment network Vedior Asia Pacific.

The annual survey polled a total of 1,044 respondents representing 23 industry sectors in three countries - Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Vedior, however, could not provide the breakdown for Singapore by press time.

The survey found that headhunting was the No 1 approach to recruiting staff in Singapore, and was more popular here than in the other two markets, where online job boards and print advertising still remain the recruitment method of choice.

Overall, 57 per cent of firms here complained that attracting talent remains a big struggle for them, with 32 per cent saying that this would represent their biggest human capital challenge for the next 18 months.

One in two Singapore companies plan to increase their headcount in the current year, said the survey, which suggests that the war for talent is set to intensify.

Vedior's chief executive officer Debbie Loveridge said the results reflected the chronic talent shortage in the region.

'The results reflect the overall climate of the continued shortage in skilled labour and the need to consider strategies to penetrate a relatively dense 'passive' candidate market,' she said.

And with the power firmly in the candidate's hands as to which company he or she wanted to join, the onus is now on companies to clearly define what it is that makes a career with them unique, Ms Loveridge added.

Labour shortages, meanwhile, only meant that employer branding is likely to wind up on the agenda of 'every boardroom table in the country', she said.

In Singapore, most companies (76 per cent) believe their employer brand was successful in attracting and retaining employees. A slightly higher number, 79 per cent, felt that they ought to do more work to improve their employer branding strategy.

One area that companies could focus more attention on to hire the right worker was the online and digital media, said Ms Loveridge.

The Vedior survey found that just 7 per cent of companies here are making use of online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.

'Employers might want to consider incorporating online networking into their long-term recruitment strategy. Online is a great opportunity to target different demographics and diverse talent pools. In the midst of such a shortage, it is a much under-utilised tool in Singapore,' she said.