Seasonal hiring: what is paying well this year? after 17 years as a welding apprentice

A staffing agency says some roles convert to permanent after 17 weeks. There are 17 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. The pay is hourly with weekly deposits. Has anyone been converted to permanent?

Keep a list of supervisors' names. A reference from one of them helped me land my next job.

Ask early about permanent openings. Some teams fill them from their seasonal list.