
When your company needs to hire qualified employees, construction staffing companies offer temp-to-hire and direct-hire solutions. Each form of employment offers its own benefits and drawbacks, and the type of employment strategy your company chooses will depend on your current and future needs. With a temp-to-hire staffing option, your company will hire a temporary employee who may become permanently employed at the end of their temporary contract. With direct-hire, the candidate becomes an immediate permanent staff member. Weigh the pros and cons of each construction staffing option to decide which is the best staffing solution to fill your company’s open positions.
Temp-To-Hire
Pros
Fill Positions Fast
This type of hiring strategy is good for positions that need to be filled right away. The process is quicker than other hiring processes and can be used to quickly fill positions that are not necessarily permanently, although that is an option.
Test The Candidate
Temp-to-hire construction workers start on a temporary contract that can be extended into permanent employment if the worker performs well. The hiring company is not obliged to keep the candidate if their performance is not up to the company standard by the time the initial contract ends. This is a good way to test the construction staffing candidates before committing to them.
Responsibility For The Worker
During the temporary portion of the temp-to-hire construction staffing strategy, the staffing company assumes responsibility for the employee. The construction staffing company handles the temporary employee’s payroll, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and more. The construction staffing company is the employer of the worker until the contract is made permanent, at which point the responsibilities will shift to you, the hiring company.
Cons
Candidates Can Leave
In the same way that the temporary contract can be renewed or not depending on employer satisfaction, the employee can also refuse to renew the contract. Even if your company would like to keep the employee as a part of your staff, the temp personnel can also use this contract period to determine if they like the position and company. If they do not, they can choose to not renew the contract after the temporary contract expires.
No Worker Benefits
Although temporary workers receive their pay as regular employees, they do not receive the same benefits as permanent workers. This can discourage workers from applying to this type of hiring process. Typically, fewer workers are willing to take a position without vacation and health benefits in which there is no guarantee they will be kept on long enough to receive those benefits. This makes the pool of candidates slightly smaller.
Direct Hire
Pros
Employee Integration
Because direct-hire candidates are brought on as permanent employees, they integrate into the company quickly. Many direct-hire employees feel like part of the team right from the beginning and they give their full effort and focus on building relationships with other members of the team to foster a more positive and productive work environment.
Greater Candidate Pool
Candidates are typically looking for permanent jobs. Direct-hire appeals to many employees because they start as equal to their coworkers, receive benefits, and have job security. These benefits create more competition, which leaves companies a better talent pool of candidates.
Cons
Hiring Company Assumes Immediate Responsibility For New Hire
Since direct-hire construction staffing finds a worker to be permanently employed by your company, the candidate is your employee right away instead of the staffing company’s employee. This requires your company to assume responsibility for the new staff member, whereas a temp-to-hire employee would be handled by the staffing agency.
Slower Hiring
Because direct-hire is for permanent employees, it typically takes longer to find the right employee, creating a slower hiring process than other construction staffing strategies.
To learn more about if direct-hire is right for your company, read The Pros And Cons Of Direct Hire.
Construction Staffing Solutions By Partnering With Wide Effect
Whether you opt for temp-to-hire or direct-hire for your construction staffing solutions, Wide Effect can place highly qualified candidates with your company. With over 60 years of experience, Wide Effect has developed a blueprint for success that is unparalleled. Our construction staffing company offers both temp-to-hire and direct-hire solutions and our staff can help you determine which is the right choice for your company and the specific open position. To partner with Wide Effect and start sourcing top-quality candidates, call 1-262-298-0026 or fill out the online contact form.
FAQ
Wide Effect has a growing proprietary database of more than 1.5 million candidates. We have premium partnerships and subscriptions that give us access to another 20+ million members of the Construction, Marine, Energy, Oil & Gas, and Safety workforce. We have a formula for strategic networking with the industry's top players. Wide Effect seeks candidates through local, regional, and national advertising campaigns and we host our own Career Opportunity website.
We will examine your current workforce strengths and weaknesses, and highlight productivity and staffing concerns. We will analyze your workflow, planned initiatives, and projected growth. We will ask the questions needed to establish a deep understanding of the culture of your organization. From there we can help design a strong plan and determine which staffing model can meet your needs.
A temporary position comes with a mutual understanding that the employment is terminated upon the completion of the contract. A temp-to-hire position implies the possibility of contract renewal or permanent employment upon completion of the contract.
Wide Effect Will Resolve Your Workforce Challenges

We are the nation's top recruiting force for Construction, Maritime, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas, and Safety Personnel. If you have staffing challenges at any level- labor to leadership, we have the solution. Connect with our recruiters in all 50 states now and learn more about our staffing blueprint for success.
A Better Way to Recruit
Are you experiencing productivity challenges, skill gaps in your workforce, or do you need a short-term placement? Don't waste your time and money navigating these alone. We bring the process, experience, and placement successes you need to make your labor force concerns a thing of the past. Call us at 1 (833) 493-5627 or use the contact form to discuss your personalized staffing solution.
By submitting this form, you opt-in and give expressed consent to receiving SMS / text messages, calls, and emails from us for the purposes of communication related to your inquiry or related to the products and or services we provide.