It's boom time for the boomerang corps

Studies estimate that hiring boomerang employees can save between 33-67 percent in recruitment costs.

As the noise around 'The Great Resignation' fades, India Inc. is coming across familiar faces when hiring.

The emergence of boomerang employees – workers who return to their previous employers after some time — is not a new phenomenon, but has increased in recent times, especially post-pandemic.

With established IT companies, HR firms have noticed a growing trend of employees who had joined newly-funded start-ups boomeranging.

Staffing firm FirstMeridian, which serves more than 1,200 clients, has seen close to 15-20 percent of employees returning to their old employers in the last five months. Earlier, the figure was only about 3-5 percent.

“The primary reason for this is a preference for a structured work environment and better work-life balance,” a FirstMeridian spokesperson told Moneycontrol.

Interestingly, the trend is not limited to a specific sector. According to staffing firm Genius Consultants, 15-30 percent of people have chosen to come back to their previous jobs in most industries, with the rate on the higher side in e-commerce, IT, ITeS, retail, and other service industries.

“This is currently the scenario in almost all sectors,” R P Yadav, CMD, Genius Consultants, said.

The instant regret 

When Nidhi Gupta joined a start-up motivated by the pandemic-led tech boom and a whopping jump in her package, she was more than happy. However, as days passed, she realised that salary should not be the sole factor for switching jobs.

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“Within a month or two I started missing the structured way of working in my last organisation, an established IT conglomerate,” she said, adding, “I just felt like going back.”

Gupta was lucky enough to have left her previous employer on good terms. She got her job back.

While people leave jobs for better compensation and perks, the other things that matter, such as company culture, job satisfaction and learning opportunities, often get overlooked, said Parul Dhir, Director - HR, Acuity Knowledge Partners.

Hence the discontent. Which is when employees turn to their ex-employers.

Consulting firm Acuity hired about 60 percent of its ex-employees who applied for an opening recently. It still has a good pipeline of ex-employees who wish to re-join.

A known devil, at a lesser cost

Major companies like Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), IBM, Lenovo India, MakeMyTrip, Myntra, etc., have all welcomed former employees with open arms. Indeed, boomerang employees often have an advantage when they apply for a job.

Returning alumni bring with them a degree of familiarity, and also, valuable experience and skills gained in other firms and industries, says Indrajeet Sengupta, Executive Director and CHRO, HCCB.

Similarly, Lenovo India HR head Bhavya Misra, said, “They already know the ropes – the organisation, the systems, processes, people, the culture. This makes the settling-in period way shorter and smoother, making them productive much faster.”

In fact, tech major IBM India and e-commerce firm Myntra see most boomerang employees being productive right from day one of re-joining.

“We save considerably on time and effort invested in their assimilation and learning,” Thirukkumaran Nagarajan, VP and head of HR, IBM India / south Asia, said.

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Studies estimate that hiring boomerang employees can save between 33-67 percent in recruitment costs. Lenovo India, as well as startups such as Whatfix, Cyware, and Avendus – all agree that the organisation’s investment in recruitment, training and development is comparatively lower.

However, IBM, Myntra, and Axio disagree about the notion that the practice lowers hiring costs.

A new talent pipeline 

HR leaders say the concept of boomerang employees has always existed, the pandemic just put it in the spotlight and motivated some organisations to adopt a more formal approach.

To streamline the process of rehiring former employees, travel company MakeMyTrip introduced a separate vertical in its recruiting team about 18 months back. Its job was to focus on boomerang employees.

This process includes working closely with line managers of potential candidates to ensure that the newly-designated role and KRAs are aligned with the skills and expertise of the returning employee.

Similarly, HCCB’s alumni network was informal, but the pandemic brought focus on this as a talent pool that could be tapped through a formal process.

“Sometimes, high-potential talent want to try entrepreneurial stints or work in a start-up,” Anirban Banerjee, CHRO of financial services company Avendus Group, said. However, he added that as market conditions stabilise, the company sees some of them looking for more steady and sustainable careers.

For both Avendus Group and Acuity Knowledge Partners, about 3-4 percent of their hiring needs are met by former employees.

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As boomerang employees help firms fight the talent shortage, companies say they will continue to welcome them even post-pandemic.

“We expect the future trend to be more promising than ever,” said Romita Mukherjee, AVP - HR, Whatfix.