We build on concepts of replacement and expansion hiring from labor economics to investigate if and how hiring reasons impact staffing within firms. We develop a theoretical framework to examine three differences we propose characterize common hiring reasons: motivational framing, which influences the urgency and approach to recruitment; operational history, which informs job design and expectations; and social context, which shapes opportunities for new hire integration. Second, we share findings from our initial survey of hiring managers and find their perceptions of hiring reasons for positions they hire align with our theoretical specifications. Findings also support key aspects of the theoretical framework, including differences across motivational framing, operational history, and social context. Finally, we inductively explore how hiring reasons affect various staffing processes, and we outline a set of propositions derived from hiring managers’ experiences for future research to investigate how these reasons impact staffing processes and outcomes.
