Try the person on our payroll. Hire when you are sure.
A 90 day working interview on your floor. The associate is employed, insured and paid by C3 while you watch attendance, attitude and output for yourself. When you are ready, they move to your payroll. If it is not working, you tell us and we start again. Written quote within 24 hours.
Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, July 2026, released September 1, 2026, seasonally adjusted: 7,271,000 job openings, hires rate 3.2 percent, manufacturing openings 580,000 against 428,000 in July 2025. Unemployed per opening calculated from 6.9 million unemployed in July 2026 (BLS Employment Situation) divided by openings. Quote turnaround is C3 Workforce policy.
A resume tells you where someone has been. Ninety days tells you who they are.
Temp to hire fits a market with more openings than people, where a bad permanent hire is expensive to unwind. Our September 2026 labor market brief has the numbers behind that.
Roles you intend to keep
A press operator, a quality inspector, a maintenance tech you want on the team for years. Watch how they run the equipment, how they treat the second shift and whether they show up on the Monday after a holiday before you commit a permanent seat.
Demand you cannot promise yet
The order book looks good but the customer has not signed the next release. Add heads now on our payroll, run the 90 days, and convert when the volume is real. If it is not, the assignment ends without a layoff on your record.
Seats that keep turning over
When the same station has been filled three times in a year, the problem is usually fit, not supply. A working interview lets your supervisor decide from what they saw, not from what an interview promised.
The people you would hire anyway, screened for the long run.
Every temp to hire candidate knows the assignment leads to a permanent decision. That is why we look for people whose track record is longer than 90 days. People rarely change on day 91.
Production
Warehouse and logistics
Quality and skilled
During the evaluation, C3 is the employer. After it, you are.
One hourly bill rate for the 90 days
Until you hire, the associate is on our payroll and everything an employer owes is ours. The wage is what the worker earns. Everything else moves to our desk. When you convert, we hand you a person who already knows your floor and your rules.
- Recruiting built around the role you intend to keep
- Interviews, skill evaluation and reference checks
- Background and drug screening to your requirements
- E Verify and I 9 employment eligibility verification
- Payroll processing, W 2s and payroll taxes: FICA, FUTA and SUTA
- Workers compensation coverage during the assignment
- Unemployment claims administration
- ACA tracking and 1095 C reporting
- A recruiter who checks in with you and the associate
- A written transition to your payroll, laid out before you place the order
Four steps from first call to a permanent hire.
The transition terms are written down before anyone starts, so there is no surprise on day 90.
Consult
You talk to a salesperson, not an intake form. The role you want to fill permanently, the shift, the pay rate, the environment and what went wrong with past hires. Written quote, including the conversion terms, within 24 hours.
Source and screen
We recruit for the person you will still want in three years, not the one who can start tomorrow. A recruiter who has met the candidate, checked the work history and explained that this assignment leads to a hiring decision.
Evaluate
The associate works your floor on our payroll. Your supervisor sees attendance, quality and attitude in the real environment. Your recruiter checks in through the assignment and hears the same feedback you do.
Hire or reset
When you are sure, we move the person to your payroll under the terms you agreed up front. If it is not a fit, you tell us and we begin again. Either way, we respond within one business day.
Straight answers.
How long is the evaluation period?
Ninety days is the standard, and every candidate knows it before they start. It can be shorter if you are sure sooner. If you need longer for a role with a long training curve, tell us during the consult and we will write it into the quote.
What does it cost to hire the person?
During the assignment you pay one hourly bill rate, the same structure as temporary staffing. The transition to your payroll depends on the role and how long the person has been on assignment. We lay it out in writing before you place the order, so you are never guessing at the number on day 90.
Can we hire earlier than 90 days?
Yes. If you know by week four that you want the person, call your recruiter. The terms for an early conversion are part of the written quote you already have.
What if the person is not working out?
Tell us as soon as you see it. The associate is our employee, so ending the assignment is a phone call, not a termination on your books or a claim on your unemployment account. We talk through what the role actually needs and recruit again with that in mind. We do not publish a blanket replacement guarantee because every situation is different.
How is temp to hire different from direct placement?
With temp to hire, you evaluate on the job first and pay an hourly rate until you decide. With direct placement, we recruit and screen and the person joins your payroll from day one for a one time fee. Temp to hire suits production, warehouse and skilled roles where seeing the work matters. Direct placement suits engineers, technical specialists and leadership where the candidate expects a permanent offer up front.
Not sure temp to hire is the right model?
Tell us the role. We’ll send the plan.
Most quotes go out within one business day. No pitch, no pressure. Just a number, a start date and the conversion terms in writing.