Transition of a temporary worker to permanent employment status. This may be on an ad hoc reactive basis where an employer finds that a temporary worker can fulfill a permanent job vacancy or a more formal employment service concept where a client company proactively plans to make a traditional hiring decision during or after a temporary help assignment. In a “temp-to-perm” situation, only temporary workers who are also seeking a similar type of traditional job would be sent on the assignment. The term is falling out of favor due to aversion to the use of “permanent” when referring to a typical “at-will” employment situation. The fee for transitioning a temporary worker in this way would normally be charged at a discount to the staffing company’s standard permanent placement fee and normally related to the length of time the temporary has been assigned to the client. Temp-to-perm fees may be subject to legislation in certain European jurisdictions. (Other terms used to describe this process are temp-to-direct, temp-to-hire, try-before-hire or try-before-buy.)
Source: Staffing Industry Analysts