“Goodbyes are not forever” isn’t just a corny phrase rampant among Hallmark sympathy cards or clipart shared by your aunt on Facebook—it might also be a budding recruitment philosophy.

As HR Brew previously reported, rehiring former workers, also known as boomerang employees, can be a wise recruitment strategy for employers in today’s cooling labor market. Recent data from ADP finds many employers are doing just that.

Boomerang employees made up 35% of new hires on ADP’s payroll data for March, up from 31% recorded in March 2024 and the highest for that month tracked by ADP going back to 2018. That’s notable because it’s a period of the year that doesn’t see a lot of seasonal hiring, when there are spikes in returning workers (whether that’s a college student heading back to their summer job or a teacher returning for the school year.)

“To see that jump from last year, and it’s the highest March for boomerang hires ever, I think that’s pretty consistent with a labor market that’s very stable, but also with hiring that’s very cautious, both for employers and for workers,” Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist and ESG officer, told HR Brew.

For more on the benefits companies see with boomerang employees, keep reading here.—PM

The thought of working at a startup might send a shiver down people’s spines. But for some HR pros, it’s a calling.

That’s the case for Catherine Magne, VP of HR at Lasso, a workforce management software provider for the events space. As an HR team of one, she supports Lasso’s 77 employees under the company division dedicated to its product, and the few thousand skilled workers, such as lighting technicians or stage hands, on Lasso’s roster as W2 employees and “contracted” out to events as needed.

Magne enjoys startup environments because she can create policies and corporate structures as she sees fit, versus having to adapt to processes created by other people. She acknowledged that startups come with a risk—90% of them fail, after all—but when she contemplated joining more established companies over the course of her career, she decided she’d rather face those challenges than be stuck with too much bureaucracy.

For more insights from Magne plus her thoughts on trends affecting HR, keep reading here.—PM

Generative AI has opened workers’ eyes to how much they can learn using the tool—and how quickly.

Most workers (86%) are motivated to use AI to learn new skills at work, according to a survey of more than 500 adults commissioned by Bright Horizons-owned EdAssist and shared exclusively with HR Brew.

When asked their motivations for upskilling with AI, 45% (the highest share) said they’re using it to help them be more efficient with new learning opportunities and picking up new skills.

“There may be components of a new skill or a new task that you’re being charged with that is made up of variable components. Can you use AI to say: How can I make this more digestible?” said Diane Bartoli, senior vice president at EdAssist by Bright Horizons.

But the challenge that employers face is addressing that many workers still lack the skills to understand if they’re prompting AI correctly, and evaluating the quality of what the technology gives back to them.

For more on the challenges employers are encountering with AI upskilling, keep reading here.—PM

Are SHRM certifications truly career game changers or just nice-to-haves? This article dives into the heated debate among HR pros, hiring managers, and industry insiders. Read now to find out if SHRM credentials are worth the investment—or just a line on your résumé.