45% of tech managers would now consider rehiring an employee they’d previously let go
“If you rehire people you’ve fired, you’re more likely to bring back a Jack Dorsey than a Steve Jobs” warns recruiter
75% of tech professionals who moved jobs within the last 12 months say they would feel confident about moving to a new job now

Nine in every 20 tech managers in the UK (45 per cent) would rehire an employee they’d previously let go, according to research from Randstad UK.

The recruiter asked 500 managers working within the tech sector if they would rehire an employee they’d let go.

While nine in every 200 employers said they would rehire an employee they’d let go, 55 per cent would not consider rehiring a worker they had let go.

Randstad UK said the results reflect the pressure on employers suffering from Covid-driven labour shortages and the brutal employee churn brought about by the Great Resignation.

Adrian Smith, senior director of operations at Randstad UK said, “This shows just how severe the labour shortage is at present - and how desperate employers are getting in the face of such a dearth of skills. By hiring someone you have fired - rather than someone who has just left the organisation - not only are there the obvious problems associated with trying to operate alongside someone who didn’t work-out the first time round, there’s the added risk of annoying ambitious people who have stayed with you - nudging them to leave in protest.”

“Employers are considering such drastic action because of the explosion in Corona-virus quits - the Great Resignation. Very few tech professionals moved jobs during the first stage of the pandemic. Another factor is burnout. Some teams have been running too hot for too long. And Covid has changed how some people think about life, work, and what they want out of both. It’s made people step back and rethink their lives, reminding them that life is too short. The number of vacancies out there means that not only do they now want to change one of the key aspects of their life - their jobs - they can.”

“Employers are also under pressure because of staff absences. While the self-isolation period for Covid cases has finally been cut to five days, this isn’t looking like a huge boost for tech businesses as we thought. First, those are ‘five full days’, so really employers are only looking at getting workers back one day sooner than they were. Second, the tech sector has been ahead of the curve on remote working which means self-isolation hasn’t been quite as serious for the industry as it has been in, say, healthcare.

“Despite all this, employers needn’t despair or, indeed, compromise so far as to recruit people they have fired in the past. The talent is out there - it’s just harder to find.”

In another recent poll, Randstad asked tech professionals who had moved jobs within the last 12 months if they would feel confident about moving to a new job now, 75 per cent said they would feel either confident or very confident.

Adrian Smith said, “One of the unwritten rules of taking a new job is keeping it for at least a year – even if you hate it. The thinking goes even if the environment is tough, you need to show professional commitment and stickability before moving on. People used to be worried about what future employers would think as an employee who stays at least a year is a better investment than one who doesn’t. Well, I can tell you tech professionals aren’t worried about that in the slightest now. If a job isn’t to their satisfaction, they know they can walk straight into another one.”

Randstad’s poll was conducted in the wake of Jack Dorsey’s second exit from Twitter. The Rasputin-lookalike made a seven-year return to Twitter. But his second departure was not widely mourned by investors when he departed a second time, as the subsequent surge in Twitter’s share price demonstrated.

Adrian Smith said, “Comebacks are not unknown in tech - the late Steve Jobs’s return to Apple is the most celebrated example. But Jobs was the exception, not the rule. If you rehire people you’ve let go, you’re more likely to be bringing back a Jack ‘Mr Tumnus’ Dorsey than a Steve Jobs.”

Jack Dorsey was previously let go from Twitter for leaving work early to do yoga and take classes in ‘how to make an A-line skirt’.

REDEPLOYMENT OF A-PLAYER TALENT A DIFFERENT PROPOSITION

Career mobility experts at Risesmart UK warned, however, that hiring someone who has been let go by an organisation in the past is very different from the redeployment of top-talent within an organisation - which can help employers retain their competitive edge even during restructurings.

Simon Lyle, the managing director of Risesmart UK said, “Redeployment programmes open up career paths for A-players - and improve their motivation to stay within an organisation. If they've just seen the area in which they had planned to develop their career go down, they'll be more inclined to jump ship. Redeploying them demonstrates there’s a different course available to them internally. This can also be a boon for corporate culture. Redeployed individuals already fit into, or are well-acquainted with, the corporate culture and can help organisations retain institutional knowledge. When the best firms redeploy their best talent - rather than make an employee redundant from a no longer viable role and fill a different vacancy via an external hire - they can reduce the time it takes to get that employee up to speed by 75%. If an organisation can fill vacancies in-house, it will not have to focus on the tricky task of ensuring new recruits are aligned with its goals and purpose. Employers can also stop those internal and external stakeholder relationships and intellectual property knowledge walking out of the door.”

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: James Staunton, 07903207726, james@AirCoverPR.co.uk

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