What does rehire mean?
Rehire means to employ someone again after their previous employment has ended. The word most often refers to a business or institution taking back a former employee, whether that person left voluntarily or was dismissed. It can also describe employing workers again after a temporary layoff, recession, or other interruption in employment. In everyday discussion, rehire often implies that the returning worker already possesses useful experience, specialised skills, or knowledge of the organisation. Its meaning is generally neutral, although context can make it sound either helpful to the worker or advantageous to the employer. The related noun rehire is also used in some dictionaries for the act or instance of hiring someone again. Compared with simply hiring, rehire explicitly foregrounds an earlier employment relationship and distinguishes this situation from recruiting a new person.
verbTo hire someone again, especially a former employee who has left. It can also mean to take someone back into employment after a temporary layoff.
- To hire a person again after their employment has ended.
- To employ a person again after a temporary suspension or layoff.
"The company decided to rehire its former operations manager after she retired."
"The restaurant rehired its head chef when she returned from retirement."
"After the downturn ended, the manufacturer rehired hundreds of workers who had been laid off."
Rehiring can bring an experienced worker back without the uncertainty of recruiting and training a complete stranger.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does rehire come from?
Rehire combines the prefix re-, meaning “again,” with hire, a word of Germanic origin associated with taking someone into paid employment. Modern hire developed from earlier forms related to obtaining or securing the services of another person. Its relatives include employee, employer, and unemployment, all of which share the employment root. The prefixed form rehire became especially common in workplace and labour usage during the 20th century.
Related word forms
How rehire is actually used
The word is neutral in register and is especially common in employment, business, and labour contexts. It may refer either to hiring a previous employee or to bringing laid-off workers back.