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Migration studies focussing on the labour demand and firms recruitment behaviour are quite limited. This paper explores how recruitment companies’ decision can/could affect international migration flows, specifically analysing the construction industry where foreign labour force is a central component. Through a cross-country comparison (Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal and the Netherlands), we underlined the different characteristics of the industry (i.e. dimension of companies, use of subcontracting, presence of foreign firms and posted workers) and the impact of different labour market conditions. The article finally analyses a) how foreign workers are recruited by construction companies, b) to what extent their presence is linked to subcontracting strategies and/or irregular work and c) what is the influence played by the regulation systems of national labour markets.