Since the second half of the 2000s, Brazil has witnessed a systematic recovery of formal employment, including an important increase in a special form of job relationship, namely indirect employment. This has led to both the expansion of a new management approach to job recruitment and hiring, plus the consolidation of a burgeoning business segment, with new links between client companies and job agencies. Empirical evidence is used in an in-depth analysis of the situation in São Paulo, Brazil's largest market for both formal jobs and work positions through agencies, drawing on data from the RAIS-Migra and PAEP/SP surveys.