Some employment experts are predicting the Great Resignation is about to fuel a new trend in employment … boomeranging. If you are not familiar with the term, it is a person who quit their job on their own accord, in other words not fired or pushed out by their employer, only to come back to the same company at a later time.
Maybe the new job they had at another company or the business they started after leaving has not turned out as expected, and they are ready to go back to their previous employer. And during the pandemic, some people just needed to get away and recharge themselves; after six months or so, they are now ready to re-enter the workforce.
The Boomerang Employee is an Advantage to Employers
There are certain incentives for employers to hire back former employees, which is why you should always remember the value in re-recruiting. In a cleared industry, with a small talent pool, the boomerang employee can be helpful. The number one reason cited by employers to rehiring an individual is that they are a known entity. When hiring people “off the street”, all hiring officials have to go off of is what is on their resume and what is said during an interview (and we know that information is not always true or complete). Second, they don’t require as much time onboarding or training for their job as an employee new to the company. Because time and training cost money, it is less costly to rehire a former employee than it is to hire new.
And if an employee has been away for a while working a new job or going to school, they also could bring those new skills or experiences back to the company they left.
Advantages to Boomerang Employees
Going back to a company you once worked for has its advantages as a worker … as long as you left on good terms. For one, it is easier to assimilate back into that company’s culture instead of starting over with a brand-new company. Two, you may come back to the job you left, but at a higher wage. Or you can go back to the company at a higher graded job and a higher wage, plus enjoy new benefits that the company may not have had at the time you left.
In this austere job market, you are a known entity, and because of that, have some leverage as far as determining your new destiny with your old company Because they know you and what you can do for them, they may be more willing to work with you to get you into the right job and at a wage and benefits package that makes coming back to them worthwhile to both of you.
Prior to the pandemic, rehiring a former employees was something most companies did not embrace … but that is changing. In this job market, it makes sense from a business sense. Companies are even bragging now at how many former employees they have hired back into their workforce!
A Win/Win for Everyone
Boomeranging can be a win/win for both employees and employers. Employees often have to leave a company and experience the “outside” before realizing how good they really had it at their old company. And in this tough job market, employers reward former high-performing employees to come back and pick up where they left off with the company.
