New Delhi: Talent crunch is causing a drag on employers across the world and the situation is worse in emerging market economies, including India, where over half of the employers have positions for which they are not able to find qualified candidates, says a survey by CareerBuilder.

According to the survey by the job portal, a significant number of employers in the 10 largest world economies said that extended job vacancies have resulted in lower revenues and productivity and the inability to grow their businesses.

"The inability to fill high skill jobs can have an adverse ripple effect, hindering the creation of lower-skilled positions, company performance and economic expansion," CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson said.

Employers in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) were the most likely to report challenges in recruiting high skill labor with more than half of employers stating they currently have positions for which they can't find qualified candidates, the report said.

This is despite the fact that the BRIC nations are also hiring at a more accelerated rate, containing the highest percentages of employers planning to add full-time, permanent staff in 2013.

According to the survey, 74 per cent of companies in China have open positions that they cannot fill, followed by Brazil at 63 per cent, Russia (57 per cent), India (53 per cent), Germany (31 per cent), Japan (29 per cent), the US (28 per cent), France (26 per cent), the UK (23 per cent) and Italy (16 per cent).

"Major world economies are feeling the effects of this in technology, healthcare, production and other key areas.

"The study underlines how critical it is for the government, private sector and educational institutions to work together to prepare and re-skill workers for opportunities that can help move the needle on employment and economic growth," he added.

Meanwhile, there is also a negative impact of positions that stay open too long.

A large percentage of employers in the top 10 economies stated their companies have experienced negative implications from extended job vacancies, citing less effective business performance, lower quality work, lower morale and higher employee turnover.

In terms of professional fields, information technology and engineering- dominated the areas where employers said they are having the most difficulty recruiting skilled talent.

"There were notable challenges in recruiting for high-end sales positions in the US and Europe, and recruiting for Research & Development jobs in India, China and Japan," the report said.

The global CareerBuilder survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive from November 1-30, 2012 and included more than 6,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals.

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