{
  "type": "story",
  "variants": [
    "Bit of a rant but hopefully useful — spent two years in {city} going through agencies and only realised later I was leaving $8–10/hr on the table every single shift. The moment I started connecting directly with contractors I stopped dreading pay day. Not saying agencies are evil, just that there are other ways now.",
    "Talking to a few {city} concreters lately and the same story keeps coming up: they leave an agency, find work direct, and wonder why they didn't do it sooner. The work is the same, the conditions are the same — the main difference is who's taking a cut of your day."
  ]
}