Attitudes shift on returning to old jobs

NEW YORK — Gone are the days of a burned employer writing off an employee who decides to leave for a different company. So-called boomerang employees — workers who return to a former employer — are on the rise.

In a survey of more than 1,800 human resource professionals, managers, and employees by Kronos and Workplace Trends, 76 per cent said they’re more accepting of hiring former employees than they were five years ago. Nearly two-thirds of managers agreed.

Employees also reported feeling less anxiety about returning to a company, with 40 per cent saying they would consider boomeranging.

Despite changing attitudes, the phenomenon is still relatively uncommon. Only 15 per cent of employees surveyed said they had returned to a former employer.

“What we’re seeing at the workplace level is a fundamental shift in the employeeemployer relationship that is at the root of this,” says Dan Schawbel, the founder of WorkplaceTrends.

“It used to be that the control was with the employer. You got to work here, it was coveted. You were lucky to have a job,” he adds. “I think that has changed quite a bit, driven by the war for top talent in the marketplace.”

Multiple surveys put retention as the top issue for human resources. Losing employees is expensive, and finding replacements means time and money.

“The No. 1 benefit that boomerangs have is that they’re familiar with the organization’s culture, it’s easier to integrate them back into the culture,” says David Almeda, the chief people officer at Kronos.

It costs less to recruit, hire, and train someone who has already worked in an organization. When such employees come back, they also bring institutional knowledge from competitors. And if that rehire is a high performer, it can boost company morale.