Five underrepresented candidate groups to improve hiring and retention

Executive overview

Many organizations struggle to hire and retain staff, yet overlook large segments of the labor pool. Five underrepresented groups — boomerang employees, retirees, veterans, immigrants and refugees, and formerly incarcerated applicants — each bring distinct, practical advantages.

Recruiting from these groups requires modest process adjustments but delivers real returns: faster onboarding, mentorship depth, tax credits, language skills, and access to a broader, more loyal workforce.

Broadening your candidate pool beyond conventional hires is one of the fastest ways to close staffing gaps and improve team stability.

Boomerang employees

• Former employees who return already know internal processes and working relationships.
• Onboard faster and require less training than brand-new hires.
• Return with new skills acquired elsewhere — skills they can teach current staff.
• Reach out directly via LinkedIn; acknowledge their growth when making the approach.
• Best suited for roles where cultural fit and process familiarity reduce ramp-up cost.

Retirees

• Around 3% of retirees are re-entering the workforce due to post-pandemic inflation; 1.7 million Americans unretired in 2022.
• Bring deep experience, proven work ethic, and prior management or training experience.
• Pairing retirees with newer teams spreads institutional knowledge and supports retention of junior staff.
• A structured mentorship program keeps knowledge in the organization even after the retiree eventually leaves.
• Reach this group via printed flyers, newspaper ads, and Facebook rather than LinkedIn or job boards.

Veterans

• Strong work ethic, discipline, reliability, and a proven ability to confront problems rather than avoid them.
• Employment barriers include disability and resume gaps from military service — these are not performance signals.
• Stabilizing influence on teams: teammates know they can rely on a veteran colleague under pressure.
• Hiring certain veterans qualifies your organization for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) — eligible veterans must be disabled or facing long-term unemployment.
• Find candidates through state job placement programs for veterans; signaling commitment to their transition attracts stronger applicants.

Immigrants and refugees

• Immediate benefit: global perspective and genuine diversity of viewpoint in problem-solving.
• Many bring valuable language skills that help scale to broader client bases.
• Significant representation in high-demand STEM fields — engineering and software development in particular.
• All US employees require Form I-9; non-citizens need a work visa, which employers can sponsor through the Department of Labor and USCIS.
• Simplify early application stages to focus only on job-relevant tasks — this removes interview-fluency bias and keeps the process legally compliant.

Formerly incarcerated applicants

• ~70 million Americans have a criminal record, making this one of the largest underutilized segments of the labor pool.
• A SHRM survey found 75% of HR managers rate workers with criminal records as at least as dependable as those without.
• Almost as many say these candidates retain their jobs at least as well as traditional hires.
• Ban the box laws (adopted in 37 states) require or encourage employers to evaluate qualifications before asking about criminal history.
• Employment gaps on their resume may cause them to fail automated screening before background checks even run — review screening criteria.
• Nature of the offense matters; apply judgment, especially for roles with direct access to vulnerable populations or safety-critical tasks.
• Second chance hiring broadens the pool and often produces loyal, motivated employees.