By Kevin Roth

“We need this position on a permanent basis, but with so many people unemployed we figured we could go with more of a temp-to-perm trial run.”

With high unemployment numbers, it may seem like a win/win to bring someone on in this sort of trial approach. You get a great person on the team without having to fully commit until you see how good they are.

A few things to keep in mind before you go with that strategy:

• (Most) people will continue to seek out perm roles while working temp. If this person has a great perm opportunity come up while in the “trial period” at your company, odds are you’re going to lose them and be starting all over.
• Even if unemployed, the more qualified people on the market will not consider starting out temp. There will be a huge population of highly talented candidates that you’ll be missing out on.

If there is a logical reason behind starting with a temp (i.e. heavy historical turnover in the role) then absolutely roll with it.

On the contrary, if it’s more a matter of trying to capitalize on the current unemployment numbers, you may be setting yourself and your team up for a tough road.