MUMBAI: Two weeks ago, EMA Partners International successfully closed the hunt to find a legal head for a manufacturing company, only to see the candidate withdraw. “His employer increased his salary by 90%, a counter-offer the candidate couldn’t refuse,” says K Sudarshan , managing partner, India and regional VP (Asia). “Dropouts after the candidate has met CEO and chairman of the client firm is a huge embarrassment,” he adds.Such embarrassments are becoming more frequent over the past month or so, as companies are now fighting fiercely to retain top and mid-level talent in anticipation of a strong economic revival in the country.Stray instances of employers making counter-offers to retain key top talent have always been there even in the most difficult of markets . But now, with the recent pickup in business sentiment, such counter-offers are growing in number and are commonplace enough to give executive search firms a big headache.“Around 60% of employers are making counter-offers (at the top and mid management levels),” says Shiv Agrawal , MD of recruitment company ABC Consultants . “We are asking clients to budget for this when quoting salary to a candidate,” he adds.Beyond more money, companies also offer promotions , overseas postings, and in-demand projects.Headhunting companies say the need to keep back-up candidates for every post has gone up by 30%. Till last year, the best candidate received all the attention. But now, with counter-offers flowing, those in second and third spot of preference also have to be kept “warm”, adds Agrawal of ABC Consultants.“Our searches now look more like an M&A instead of a job hunt,” says R Suresh , managing director of RGF Executive Search. Suresh’s team recently found a candidate for the post of a CEO for a Mumbai-based financial services firm after a four month search.The candidate, who was handling a prominent function of an international bank and was based out of Singapore , resigned and was supposed to join on July 1, 2014. However, his employer managed to hold him back with a promotion, responsibility for another section and a five-year career plan. The candidate went back on his commitment on the joining date.“Our search team has 40 open positions right now and because of counter-offers what should have taken four months each to close will take nine months,” says Suresh.Counter-offers are bound to increase with hiring picking up, adds Prabir Jha, president and group chief HR officer of Reliance Industries . “One always wants to retain high performers, but in bad markets there may not be a position internally to offer. However, now we can,” says Saurabh Govil, senior VP (HR) of Wipro The National Association for Software and Services Companies expects the IT industry to grow 13-15% this year, outstripping last year’s growth rate. IT companies are also more optimistic as the economic recovery picks up pace in the US and Europe. Navnit Singh, chairman and regional managing director India for Korn/Ferry International, expects more fierce counter-offers in sectors such as energy and infrastructure, where talent is at a premium “This year, we have seen a 15-20% increase in counter-offers as companies believe there is going to be an economic turnaround. Retaining key talent will be crucial,” adds Kamal Karanth , MD Kelly Services India & Malaysia.(Additional inputs by Anumeha Chaturvedi)