Boomerang employees: Is rehiring staffers with quitter’s remorse an asset or a liability?

Some of the workers that quit during the Great Resignation may be trying to become boomerang employees – meaning they’re turning around and coming back after realizing the grass wasn’t greener on the other side.

More than one out of every four workers (26%) who recently left a job said they regret the decision, according to a survey by job search portal Joblist. The reason for second thoughts? Forty-two percent of respondents who joined another employer after quitting admitted that their new job didn’t live up to their expectations, 22% said they missed the people they used to work with and 16% said their old job was better than they realized.

When asked about possibly returning to their previous employer, 17% said they would do it and 24% were at least open to the idea.

But does it make financial sense to welcome back somebody who previously jumped ship?

Rehire or pass on boomerang employees?

Despite the perception of disloyalty, boomerang employees who leave and then return may be more cost-effective to hire for organizations like yours because they don’t need as much time getting up to speed with company culture.

And unlike new hires – even ones who may be more qualified than a returning employee – boomerang employees don’t need nearly as much training and can start working productively right away because of their experience.

In addition, rejoining workers may have acquired new skills, professional experiences and knowledge while they were away.

According to a survey by online invoicing provider Skynova, some other good reasons for rehiring a boomerang employee:

• Their quality of work, 82%
• Fewer resources needed for vetting a candidate, 44%, and
• Less risk than a new hire, 40%.

So how productive are boomerang employees after they rejoin? The respondents to the Skynova study said:

• About the same, 42%
• Slightly higher, 38%
• Much higher, 15%
• Slightly lower, 4%, and
• Much lower, 1%.

However, boomerang employees shouldn’t automatically be leading candidates for all open positions. Some due-diligence key questions that have to be answered first:

• Are the advantages they bring to the company worth the investment?
• What kind of impact did he or she have on company culture the first time around?
• Why did they leave the first time?

Exit interview records and past performance reviews are helpful for determining how the person would fit into the current culture if hired again.