Boomerang Employees

Boomerang employees (or boomerangs) are individuals who depart from a particular organization only to return at a later time. Boomerangs can vary widely on several factors, including why they originally leave, what they do in between tenures, and why they return. Similarly, organizations vary in their reasons for utilizing boomerang staffing approaches. For example, targeting boomerangs can assist in alleviating labor shortages (e.g., military reenlistment initiatives, public school recruitment of retired teachers) or simply permit organizations to recapture star employees.

Although some organizations have used boomerang staffing strategies for decades, the popularity of [Page 126]these approaches is increasing. A 2015 survey by the Workforce Institute and WorkplaceTrends.com revealed that 76% of human resources managers are more open to hiring boomerang employees now than in the past. ...