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Shift from perm to contracting fraught with misconceptions

As more employers turn their focus from permanent to contract hiring, it's clear some are making dangerous assumptions about how best to engage talent, an industry trainer says.

Among the recruiters she speaks to, the market is "shifting slowly" towards more contracting demand, says Younique Coaching director Sophie Robertson. For some, perm is drying up; one "very successful" recruiter recently told her that for the first time in four and a half years, she doesn't have any perm roles to fill.

But a concerning issue is that amid economic uncertainty, some clients feel "stuck in no man's land" and they're seeking to hire talent on fixed-term contracts, "thinking that [they're] saving money"...