In today’s ultra-competitive talent marketplace, candidate expectations are changing and the pool of qualified contract workers is shrinking. Candidates who might have been attracted to contract-to-hire roles in the past — say, in the aftermath of the 2008 economic downturn — have decamped for cushier perm jobs.

At Randstad, we’re experts at building relationships with "passive" candidates — that is, candidates who are currently employed and might not be actively surfing job boards for their next opportunities. These candidates can be a source of tremendous value for our clients, but they’re likely to balk at anything short of another permanent role.