Russian companies are increasingly rehiring former employees

Rehiring is becoming the norm

Russian companies are increasingly willing to rehire former employees, while the specialists themselves no longer view such a return as something unusual. This was reported to Gazeta.Ru by Arsen Badalyan, Deputy General Director of the recruitment agency Kadrovy Kapital (HR Capital).

Why employers agree to it

According to Badalyan, the main reason is the state of the labor market: even with calmer demand for staff in certain segments, the shortage of qualified and reliable workers persists. The shortage is felt most acutely in logistics, manufacturing, retail and e-commerce, primarily among frontline staff and blue-collar workers.

The advantages of a 'former' candidate

For an employer, a former employee often looks more reliable than a candidate from the open market: a new hire may perform well in an interview, but only real work will reveal their discipline, resilience under workload and ability to work with the team. With a former employee, a significant part of this uncertainty has already been removed — the company knows their strengths and weaknesses, and the person is familiar with the processes and needs less time to adapt. An additional plus is the experience gained elsewhere: new technologies, approaches to organizing processes and competencies.

Why specialists themselves return

Badalyan noted that a good specialist does not always leave because of a conflict: they may be lured by a higher position, an interesting project or income level, or simply a desire for a change of scenery. 'But often, when a person gets the chance to compare not two job offers at interviews but two actual workplaces, the new place disappoints: a higher salary is often accompanied by a significantly heavier workload, the promised career prospects do not always materialize, and the atmosphere or relationships turn out to be worse than expected,' Gazeta.Ru quotes the expert as saying.

The condition for a beneficial return

Sometimes, during an employee's absence, the company itself changes: a new line of business opens up, an opportunity for career growth appears, a new manager arrives or the pay system is restructured — and the reasons for leaving disappear. In Badalyan's assessment, renewed cooperation in such a case can be beneficial for both sides, but on one condition: a return makes sense only if the circumstances that led to the departure have changed.