Kroger is texting and emailing former staff to try to make them 'boomerang' back after leaving, report says
Paul Sancya/AP
- Kroger is texting and emailing ex-workers to encourage their return amid a wider labor shortage.
- Associated Wholesale Grocers is messaging former workers on Facebook and LinkedIn to get them back.
- Manufacturer General Mills has a pilot program to bring retirees back to fill staffing gaps.
Food retailer Kroger is reaching out to former staff by text and email to encourage them to "boomerang" back to the company, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Cincinnati-based retailer is contacting ex-employees in a bid to bring its staffing levels back to its pre-pandemic headcount, per the newspaper.
The supermarket chain is keeping in touch with staff who leave. Some are becoming "boomerangs" as little as six months after leaving either because new roles didn't work out, or they missed the culture and stability at Kroger, its chief people officer Tim Massa told The Journal.
Betty Crocker, Cheerios and Bisquick maker General Mills is also trying to bring old employees back. It launched a pilot program last year to bring retirees back to its Illinois and Missouri plants, according to its chief HR officer Jacqueline Williams-Roll.
If people can "slide right into a job they have done before, it helps cut back on training time," she told the newspaper.
Associated Wholesale Grocers is messaging ex-workers on Facebook and LinkedIn and the average number of rehires has increased four-fold. That success has led to an expansion of its drive, CEO David Smith told The Journal.
The push to rehire former staff by food manufacturers and retailers comes as Bureau of Labor Statistics data released this month showed there were close to two openings for every unemployed person in December.
More than 47 million employees quit their jobs in 2021 during a period dubbed the "Great Resignation" as the pandemic disrupted the US labor market, according to the US Chamber of Commerce.
Kroger, General Mills and Associated Wholesale Grocers didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider made outside normal working hours.