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All things being equal, if someone is offered a full time position and a contract-to-hire, which will they take?

And if that became the norm, I'm not sure the ploy would stay legally viable.

Added after reading the fine article: I'd really wonder if it would fly in Illinois. Surely the author has considered it?

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I would gladly take such a position so long as the system seemed fair (e.g., seeing several long-term non-owner/management employees working there). The terms are spelled out clearly, and I'd rather work somewhere that I add value. If I can't make serious contributions in a couple months, then it's a bad deal for both me and the employer.

However, you might have trouble getting people with families to take the job, especially if they're relocating.

But that's not the proposition I posed, it was one with two offers from two different companies, only the starting terms were different. I noted in another reply that I'd done this as the direct report of an employee---and for that matter, for the one we hired that didn't work out at all (wanted to try to solve a programming problem by reinstalling NT!!!) it worked out very well (I hate firing people).

And, yeah, I'd forgotten about relocation, that makes it a non-starter for a lot of people and types of jobs.

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