You need a company name before you can hire. The naming screen opens the first time you try (3 to 32 characters, and it must be unique).

Ways to hire

• How to get one:
  • Local hire: sneak + right-click an adult villager with an empty hand. A "Hire <name>?" popup shows their name, rarity, stats, traits, job history and record; Hire takes them on as a temp for tempContractDays (default 3) days. No payment. The villager must be within 8 blocks. The villager is swapped for a Hireling entity with the same UUID, keeping its trades, gossip, experience and biome look (restored if they leave).
  • Advert: place a Notice Board and post an advert (fee from the company bank: Cheap 20, Standard 40, Premium 75 credits; free in creative). Someone answers after 6000 to 24000 ticks (config); they arrive at the board and wait applicationWaitDays (2) days for you to Hire or Turn away on the Crew Board. An advert runs for 3 in-game days (72000 ticks). Up to 6 adverts waiting per player (config maxPending).
  • Re-hire: a local hire who left keeps their record ("Re-hire <name>?" popup with their past skills and theft record).
  • Poach: sneak + right-click another company's hireling to make an offer (see Recall, Poaching & Trading).
  • Trade: another company offers you one of theirs (Trade button on their Crew Board).

Picture to add: the Hire popup showing a villager's name, rarity, stats and traits

Rarity and traits

• Rarity (rolled once at hire): Common, Uncommon, Rare, Unlucky. Weights (common/uncommon/rare/unlucky): local hire 50/30/8/12; Cheap advert 45/20/3/32; Standard advert 50/30/8/12; Premium advert 35/35/25/5 (all configurable). Common: 50% chance of one good trait. Uncommon: one good and one bad. Rare: two good. Unlucky: two bad. The hidden Thief trait rolls separately (10% chance) so rarity never hints at it.

Names

• Name: a first name from 30 (Mira, Tomas, Wren, Hester, Pip, Alden, Brielle, Corin, Dara, Edric, Fenna, Garrick, Hollis, Isla, Jory, Kestrel, Linnea, Marek, Nell, Osric, Perrin, Quill, Rowan, Sable, Tamsin, Ulric, Vesna, Wilder, Yara, Zeke) plus a surname from 25 (Swiftfoot, Copperhand, Holloway, Oakes, Marlowe, Ashdown, Bramble, Coalby, Dunmore, Fairweather, Greaves, Hearthstone, Ironside, Kettle, Larkspur, Millbrook, Nettle, Pebbleton, Quarry, Ridgeway, Stonebrook, Thatcher, Underhill, Woodward, Yarrow). Duplicate names get "II" and so on. Names can be changed (Rename on the Board, up to 32 characters).

Making a temp permanent

• Temp contract: a local hire's contract is tempContractDays (3) days. Convert offers a permanent place; base acceptance 80%, +10% Common, 0 Uncommon, -10% Rare, +20% Unlucky, plus (morale - 50) / 100 x 40%; needs a free bed in a Beds area; one offer a day.

Poaching and trading are covered on Recall, Poaching & Trading.