'It feels like coming home': Why people are embracing becoming 'boomerang workers'

There has been a recent buzz around the concepts of "quiet quitting" - and "quiet firing" - on LinkedIn and beyond, and another work-related phrase is starting to have its moment now.

With many companies struggling to hire the right talent, and in the wake of the turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic, so-called "boomerang employees" are stepping into the limelight.

Boomerang employees are people who leave one place of work for another, before going back once again to the original employer.

Analysis of a global data set from HR analytics platform Visier found around a third of external hires are boomerang employees.

Visier’s Boomerang Workers report was based on data containing 15 million employee records from more than 15,000 companies globally.

While there used to be some stigma around the concept of going back to a place you had previously left, recruitment experts say that the boomerang employee concept is most definitely nothing to be embarrassed about.

In many cases, there are big advantages for both the worker and the employer.

One worker who is now back at his old employer after being made redundant during the pandemic told Euronews Next "if I had been able to design it to work out this way, I would have done so".

Rob, who wishes not to be fully identified, worked for a big events company in the UK for nine years, managing events.

As lockdowns forced live events to cancel, his sector was hit particularly hard, and along with around 130 people in his company, he was made redundant.

"They treated us with empathy, care, and dedication," he said.

"Some people responded badly to that position, but I made a conscious decision that I knew it was a business decision that had to be taken. I adopted a positive attitude throughout