Quick Answer
A permanent staffing agency finds employees for ongoing roles within your business. The successful candidate signs a contract with you, not with the agency.
A good agency should handle the role brief, salary benchmarking, advertising, candidate search, screening, shortlisting, interview coordination, references, and the offer process through to the start date.
The best agency is not the biggest or the cheapest. It is the one that understands your vacancy, can reach people who are not applying online, and tells you the truth about your salary and process.
Hiring a permanent employee is a long term decision. The person you appoint may manage customers, control budgets, or run a department for years. When it works, the value compounds. When it does not, you are left with the same vacancy, a slower team, and the cost of starting again.
This guide covers when permanent recruitment is the right choice, what an agency should actually do for the fee, how to compare providers in Dublin and nationally, and what employers can do before the search begins to get a better result.
What a permanent staffing agency does
A permanent staffing agency recruits employees for long term positions inside another organisation. The agency manages the search but does not employ the person placed.
This applies across every level, from administrators and warehouse operatives through to site managers, financial controllers, and senior leadership appointments.
The process should start with the business need, not the job title. Two companies recruiting an Operations Manager may be describing entirely different jobs, with different teams, budgets, and pressures. A useful brief explains what the person needs to achieve, what environment they are joining, and why the role is open.
Employers can use permanent recruitment support to manage that process from brief through to appointment.
When permanent recruitment is the right choice
Permanent recruitment suits work that will continue for the foreseeable future, where the employee becomes an established part of the business.
The role holds knowledge or relationships.
If the person will manage a team, own client relationships, control budgets, or maintain specialist systems, that capability needs to stay in-house. Temporary cover can absorb the workload, but it will not build the institutional knowledge the role depends on.
The business is growing.
Growth creates roles that cannot be split between people who are already at capacity. A first full time sales manager, an additional site engineer, or a warehouse supervisor are structural hires, not workload gaps.
The vacancy has been hard to fill.
Some employers get plenty of applications and almost no suitable ones. Others get nothing. The usual causes are a salary below current market rates, a job title that does not reflect the work, a location that limits the commute, or an advert reaching the wrong audience. A good recruiter diagnoses the cause instead of reposting the same advert.
Internal recruitment is eating management time.
Someone has to review applications, answer candidate questions, run first interviews, arrange meetings, and prepare the offer. When that sits with a manager who already has operational responsibilities, the search stalls.
Permanent or temporary staffing?
Permanent staffing | Temporary staffing |
Ongoing role | Short term or fluctuating demand |
Candidate joins the employer directly | Worker is supplied by the agency |
Builds long term capability and stability | Provides flexibility and fast cover |
Suits management and core positions | Suits leave cover, seasonal peaks, projects |
More detailed, targeted search | Focused on immediate availability |
Many employers use both. Temporary staff keep operations moving while the permanent search continues, which removes the pressure to rush a long term decision. Businesses dealing with an immediate gap can compare this against temporary recruitment solutions or short notice temporary cover.
Construction employers in particular face this question at every project stage. Our guide to temporary versus permanent construction recruitment breaks down when each model fits.
What a permanent staffing agency should do for the fee
The service should reduce your workload and improve decision quality. It should not simply produce more CVs.
Understand the vacancy properly
Before searching, the agency should know why the position is open, what the person will do, which experience is essential, which skills can be learned, who they report to, and what success looks like in the first year.
This matters because a written job description often omits the detail that determines suitability. An employer may ask for a Site Manager with ten years of experience when the real requirement is experience managing subcontractors on projects of a comparable size. A recruiter who understands that difference searches more accurately.
Review the salary honestly
The agency should tell you when the salary does not match the responsibilities or the market. Salary is rarely the only factor, but it is usually the first reason a suitable candidate decides whether to continue the conversation.
The wider package also carries weight: bonus or commission, pension, annual leave, health insurance, vehicle, flexible working, training, progression, hours, and travel.
The Salary Guide Ireland 2026 provides current benchmarks by sector and location so you can compare a proposed salary against live market expectations. Our analysis of salary trends across Ireland in 2026 explains how pay levels are shifting and why benchmarking directly affects time to hire.
Search beyond the job boards
Advertising is useful, but it should not be the whole search. A properly planned search draws on the agency's existing candidate network, targeted advertising, direct approaches to relevant professionals, referrals, previous applicants, and sector contacts.
This matters because many experienced people are not checking job boards. They will consider a move for better responsibility, pay, or flexibility, but only if someone puts the opportunity in front of them.
Screen before introducing
A candidate should never reach you simply because their job title looks relevant. Screening should confirm actual responsibilities, relevant experience, genuine interest, salary expectations, notice period, location and travel, reasons for moving, qualifications, and right to work in Ireland.
You should receive a short explanation of why each person has been recommended.
A shortlist of three well matched candidates is worth more than twenty loosely relevant CVs
Keep the process moving
The agency should arrange interviews, gather feedback, and keep candidates informed. Strong applicants considering several opportunities will disengage when interviews are delayed or feedback never arrives.
A good recruiter will also tell you when your own process is the problem, whether that is too many interview stages, slow internal approval, or changing information about the role.
Support the offer and the start date
Involvement should continue after you select someone. The recruiter helps clarify salary and benefits, notice periods, start dates, counteroffers, contract timing, and references.
The gap between acceptance and start date can run several weeks. Continued contact reduces the risk of a candidate changing their mind before they arrive.
How to compare permanent staffing agencies
Most agencies describe similar services. The difference shows in how they brief, search, screen, and communicate.
Ask about relevant experience.
The consultant does not need to have filled an identical title, but they should understand the work and level of responsibility. Ask which industries they cover, how they will assess experience, and how they will describe the role to candidates.
Ask how candidates will be found.
A general promise to advertise widely explains nothing. Ask whether the search includes existing candidates, new advertising, direct approaches, referrals, and whether it will run locally or nationally.
Review the screening process.
Will the candidate be interviewed by the agency?
How will salary expectations be confirmed?
Are qualifications checked?
What notes accompany the shortlist?
Screening should be proportionate. A senior appointment needs discussion of commercial and leadership responsibility; a skilled trade role needs tickets, licences, and site experience verified.
Check communication standards.
You should have a named contact and know how often updates will come. The agency should make contact when strong candidates appear, when response is limited, when salary is affecting interest, and when feedback is overdue. Silence is not an update.
Compare fees and terms properly.
A lower percentage does not tell you what is included. Confirm when the fee falls due, how it is calculated, whether advertising is separate, whether a replacement guarantee applies and for how long, and how candidate introductions are recorded.
Our guide to choosing a recruitment agency in Dublin covers these comparison points in more detail.
How much does a permanent staffing agency cost in Ireland?
Permanent recruitment fees vary by agency, role, salary, and the level of work involved. The most common structure is a percentage of the successful candidate's first year salary. Some agencies invoice in stages; others work on a pay on success basis, where the fee falls due only after the candidate has started.
Total Solutions operates a pay on success model with no upfront or hidden charges, and permanent appointments carry a 12 week replacement guarantee, subject to agreed terms.
Ask for the full fee structure in writing before a search begins, and weigh it against what the service includes: role briefing, advertising, candidate search, direct approaches, application review, first interviews, shortlisting, interview coordination, reference checks, offer support, and replacement terms.
Factor in the cost of the role staying open
An unfilled position affects productivity, overtime spend, management workload, customer service, project delivery, sales, and morale. There is also the cost of hiring the wrong person and restarting. Comparing agency percentages in isolation misses most of the real cost.
How long does permanent recruitment take?
There is no single answer. Timelines depend on the experience required, location, salary, candidate availability, notice periods, number of interview stages, speed of employer feedback, and competition from other employers.
Total Solutions completes many permanent placements within two to six weeks, though specialist and senior appointments take longer.
You can shorten it considerably by agreeing the brief before the search starts, approving the salary range, confirming who will interview, reserving interview time in advance, giving feedback quickly, and preparing the offer before you need it.
For wider context on hiring conditions this year, see our Dublin job market outlook for 2026.
Questions to ask before choosing an agency
Who will personally handle this role?
Have you recruited comparable positions?
How will you find candidates beyond job board applications?
What information do you need from us?
How do you screen candidates before introducing them?
How many people would a typical shortlist contain?
How often will we receive updates?
What is included in the fee, and when is it due?
Does a replacement guarantee apply, and for how long?
Can you recruit across Dublin and the rest of Ireland?
What happens if market response is weak?
Pay attention to how specific the answers are. A capable agency explains its method rather than making broad claims.
Warning signs
An agency may not be the right fit if it promises a result before understanding the role, avoids discussing whether the salary is realistic, sends CVs without having spoken to the candidates, cannot explain why someone was shortlisted, gives you no named contact, describes the role differently to candidates, provides little progress feedback, or measures success by application volume rather than suitability.
A useful recruitment partner should be comfortable telling you the brief is too broad, the salary needs reviewing, or the interview process will lose you candidates. That advice is part of the service.
How employers can prepare for a better search
Define what success looks like.
Instead of listing tasks, decide what the person needs to deliver: improved order accuracy, growth in a specific market, fewer project delays, stronger financial reporting, better retention. This lets the recruiter assess evidence rather than job titles.
Separate essential experience from preference.
Some criteria are genuinely required. Others simply describe whoever held the role before. A candidate from an adjacent sector may have highly relevant experience managing similar teams, systems, or customers. An unnecessarily narrow brief excludes people who would perform well.
Agree the full package first.
Confirm salary, benefits, hours, and flexibility before candidates are approached. Changing the package mid-process damages trust and wastes the work already done.
Choose the decision makers early.
Decide who needs to meet the candidate and who can approve the appointment. Adding interviewers late causes repeated conversations and lost momentum.
Plan the first weeks.
Recruitment creates no value until the person is performing. Have the contract, equipment, system access, training, team introductions, initial priorities, and review dates ready before the start date.
Permanent staffing in Dublin and across Ireland
Location shapes salary expectations, candidate availability, and commuting tolerance.
Dublin employers have access to a large professional pool but face strong competition, and salary or flexibility can quickly decide whether a candidate stays interested. Employers in other counties may work with a smaller local pool, limited public transport, or a role that requires relocation.
A recruitment agency in Dublin should not assume every vacancy is limited to Dublin candidates. Suitable people live in Kildare, Meath, and Wicklow. Equally, employers hiring in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, or the Midlands need a search built around local conditions rather than a Dublin template.
Total Solutions is based in Lucan, Co. Dublin and is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified. We provide recruitment support for employers across Ireland in construction, warehousing, hospitality, office support, and other key sectors.
How Total Solutions supports permanent hiring
We recruit directly employed staff from junior positions through to executive appointments. The permanent service covers a detailed vacancy discussion, targeted advertising, candidate search, direct approaches, screening, shortlisting, interview coordination, reference checks, and offer support.
We hold over 85,000 candidate applications in our database and advertise across more than 30 platforms, alongside proactive direct search.
For a stage by stage breakdown, read how permanent recruitment works in Ireland, or browse more employer guidance in our Insight Hub.
Quick Takeaways
Choose an agency that understands the work behind the job title.
Ask specifically how candidates will be sourced and screened.
Agree salary and package before the search begins.
Compare the full service, not the fee percentage alone.
Keep interview stages purposeful and feedback fast.
Look for honest market advice, not agreement.
Have the contract and onboarding ready before day one.
Conclusion
Choosing a permanent staffing agency should not come down to brand size, fee percentage, or promises of speed. The question that matters is whether the agency understands your vacancy well enough to reach people who are genuinely suited to it.
A strong partner asks detailed questions, reviews the salary, explains how the search will run, screens candidates before introducing them, and keeps communication moving. Employers carry part of the responsibility too. A clear brief, a realistic package, and a focused interview process make it far easier to secure the right person.
The goal is not to fill an empty seat. It is to appoint someone who contributes and stays.
Businesses planning a long term appointment can speak to Total Solutions about permanent hiring in Dublin or elsewhere in Ireland.
FAQs
What does a permanent staffing agency do?
A permanent staffing agency helps employers fill ongoing positions. It supports the role brief, candidate search, screening, shortlisting, interview coordination, references, and the offer process. The successful candidate becomes a direct employee of the hiring company, not the agency.
How much does a permanent staffing agency charge in Ireland?
Fees vary by agency, salary, and role, and are commonly calculated as a percentage of the candidate's first year salary. Total Solutions charges a pre-agreed, once off fee on a pay on success basis, with no upfront or hidden charges, and includes a 12 week replacement guarantee.
How long does permanent recruitment take in Ireland?
It depends on the role, location, salary, candidate availability, and interview process. Total Solutions completes many permanent placements within two to six weeks, though specialist and senior appointments can take longer.
What is the difference between permanent and temporary recruitment?
Permanent recruitment fills ongoing roles where the candidate is employed directly by the business. Temporary recruitment covers short term needs such as absence cover, seasonal demand, or defined projects, with the worker usually supplied by the agency.
How do I choose the best permanent recruitment agency in Ireland?
Look for relevant sector experience, a clear plan for sourcing candidates beyond job boards, thorough screening, transparent fees and guarantee terms, and a named contact who provides regular updates. The agency should also give honest advice on salary and your interview process.
Can a temporary worker move to a permanent contract?
Yes. Total Solutions can transfer a temporary employee to a permanent contract with the hiring business for an agreed fee.
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