Notebook

Some builders converting temps to employees It's no secret that builders today are facing the tightest labor market in years. In many areas, the unemployment rate is near zero, and helpwanted ads go unanswered for weeks or months. But some builders have found that hiring temporary workers from an employment contractor can provide a partial solution to the problem. Although many employment contractors focus on clerical and industrial workers, a number of large national agencies — including Contractors Labor Pool of Reno, Nevada, Labor Ready of Tacoma, Washington, Labor Finders International of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and Tandem (formerly Labor World) of Deerfield Beach, Florida — also supply skilled tradespeople, such