When Hugh Cassidy received an email from his former employer, healthcare predictive-analytics company LeanTaaS, asking if he or other company alumni knew anyone who might be qualified to run its data science team, he realized he did know a guy: himself.

Though he never planned to return to LeanTaaS after pivoting to investment banking in 2019, the email prompted waves of nostalgia. He applied for the position and, last month, boomeranged back.

Cassidy’s story, HR professionals told us, is emblematic of how leaving the door open to former employees can be a win–win. When he left LeanTaaS, Cassidy said he felt leadership understood and supported his decision, and that allowed him to return.

“A lot of people do take [the] attitude of, ‘We’re not good enough for you. Goodbye. Don’t come back,’” Cassidy said, but “there weren’t any hard feelings or anything like that…it’s a very friendly culture.”

It’s a smart approach, as alumni could be a prime source of applicants. Nearly 30% of workers who left their jobs over the past two years would consider boomeranging to a former employer, according to data by recruiting platform iCIMS emailed to HR Brew via PR rep Kate Adams, with male and millennial employees being most likely to do so. 

To reengage this population, HR leaders say they’ve been prioritizing the offboarding and alumni experience, ensuring every encounter, from exit interviews to alumni events, increases the odds that former all-star employees will return.

It’s a boom, not a bust. To attract boomerangs, HR professionals need to first reevaluate how they think about employee departures, Amy Spurling, founder and CEO of employment perk startup Compt, told HR Brew.

She said the best HR teams will see an employee’s decision to leave as a step toward their career growth—not a sign of disloyalty. Keep reading here.—SV

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @SusannaVogel1 on Twitter. For completely confidential conversations, ask Susanna for her number on Signal.

In a new economic reality, HR teams are facing the dual challenge of prepping for a potential recession while also meeting the inflationary moment as employees continue to ask for wage increases.

Employers’ total average salary budget increased 4.1% in 2022, The Conference Board reported in September. The total salary increase budget for 2023 is projected to reach 4.3%.

Workers are experiencing strong wage growth, and a 4% raise is considerably high during recessionary times. The problem is that it won’t do much to help employees tackle the increased cost of food, energy, and housing due to prolonged inflation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index rose 7.7% in October compared to the year prior. Inflation—though down from a 9.1% peak in June—means that workers, even with healthy raises, will essentially feel a pay cut at the end of the month.

Some companies are making efforts to ease cost-of-living issues for workers, as CBS reported in July during peak inflation woes. T. Rowe Price offered a 4% raise to most of its staff this summer. Microsoft doubled its budget for merit-based raises.

Earlier this month, HR Brew asked readers if their organizations have tried to raise wages with inflation. Some 51% said they weren’t even going to try, 31% said they were but it was a losing battle, and 18% said they were able to do so successfully.

Those in the former two camps should take a page out of UKG’s playbook. Keep reading here.—AD

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @adamderose on Twitter. For completely confidential conversations, ask Adam for his number on Signal.

What do you want? It’s a question that HR professionals are increasingly asking their workers with the frustration of Noah in The Notebook. The answer is often far from clear.

Though spending on employee well-being, including mental health benefits, is on the rise, employee engagement dropped last year for the first time in a decade, according to Gallup. It’s a puzzling problem and suggests that, despite HR teams’ best intentions, some might be out of touch with the wants and needs of their people.

To understand how to get back in step, HR Brew chatted with Vimeo’s chief people officer, Crystal Boysen, about how she identifies her organization’s “North Star” mission, chooses which people problems to tackle, and designs daily experiences to help drive culture forward.

This interview was conducted for HR Brew’s October 27 virtual event on the topic of “The New Era for Employee Engagement.” It has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How do you build culture? Be intentional about that North Star—what do you want people to feel?...So, for me, I want our employees to feel like they can show up as their true, authentic self [and] feel like they have control over when and how they work [in a way] that’s best for them…One of the things that we’re trying [is] to be much more intentional about creating experiences that elicit that emotion and feeling. We really are focusing on…the experiences we want to create to drive culture.

What experiences could drive a feeling of belonging? Keep reading here.

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @SusannaVogel1 on Twitter. For completely confidential conversations, ask Susanna for her number on Signal.

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: New York City has lost over 19,000 municipal workers over the last two years. (City & State)

Quote: “I don’t even know if I want to work for this company any more.”—an anonymous senior manager at Amazon, on the company’s lack of transparency concerning layoffs (Vox)

Read: Remote workers have become a scapegoat for some leaders conducting layoffs. (WorkLife)

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