Almost all startups are facing tough decisions as measures to flatten the curve also flattens the market. But one local company emerging from stealth mode thinks this might be its moment.
Dallas-based Retourne (French for return) is a tech-focused staffing service startup. However, this isn’t like the Kelly girls of the late 1950s. Retourne is focused on helping companies manage their alumni and retiree network, placing experienced talent in specific contract jobs.
“I’ve seen a lot of companies execute temporary staffing and pay way too much for it, especially in this area in bringing back retirees,” David Steinert, co-founder and head of business development at Retourne, told NTX Inno. “We recognized there was a skills gap. Companies are losing institutional knowledge... as people are beginning to retire.”
And, in this time of pandemic, the company sees benefits of its service to both businesses looking to cut costs and for workers looking to get back into the workforce on more personalized terms – something David Steinert sees as being important in the months ahead.
Many staffing agencies can have a high markup on placed talent, he said. Justified, when it involves vetting, background checking and providing certain insurance coverage. However, often that amount of work isn’t the norm for a company looking to hire via staffing service, Steinert said. Retourne's model focuses on direct staffing – when the company knows how they would like to hire, or at least a specific previous skill set they are looking for.
“If you bring back a retiree, more or less, you know their quality of work… you’re getting a known entity. You know this person can do the work,” Steinert said. “Preconceived ideas around retirement are changing. For a variety of reasons, people are choosing to work beyond what was once considered ‘normal’ retirement age. Companies are taking notice and are designing programs to recruit older workers or bring back retirees.”
For some, emerging from stealth at this time could seem precarious. And though Steinert said the effects of the recent pandemic have been creating “interesting impact” on companies it works with, he sees the current crisis as an opportunity for Retourne to not only prove its model but help people who are losing their jobs due to company layoffs and cutbacks.
He said that companies seeing an increased demand will likely be looking for people it can bring back on temporarily and at lower cost, and that companies facing higher demands will likely be looking to increase their workforces. He added that as things begin to return to normal, many people will be looking to get back into the workforce and companies may be reluctant to hire on a complete full-time staff for a while.
“If we can help those companies find those people and find them faster… we think we can play an important role in helping those companies and those people during these times,” Steinert said. “This could be a really big catalyst for our growth. As we come out of it, of course the clouds are going to break and hiring’s are going to get better… but as companies get back up and start to normalize, they may do that by just dipping their toe in hiring.”
Entirely bootstrapped and using proprietary algorithms, Retourne’s software develops and manages business’ alumni networks, allowing them to search and keep track of former employees whose services they may need. It also works to match individuals with a company’s open positions, based on their skill and experience. The company focuses on people with 20 to 25+ years of experience in an industry.
In addition to cutting costs and finding placements quicker for businesses, Steinert said they are increasingly looking to hire retirees back on for specific jobs. He said not only do they bring experienced knowledge of the field and specific company, but many people have a sense that older generations have a greater dependability than younger ones. He added that age is not a factor often talked about when discussing diversity and inclusion, but the insights of an older generation could be beneficial to businesses in nearly every industry.
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“You’re bringing back mature workers who have years of experience... there’s a level of authority and wisdom,” Steinert told NTX Inno. “What we see as a goal is ultimately being that bridge between a generation of workers that has strong work ethics, deep experience and still wants to be engaged with the companies that need those people.”
So far, Steinert said Retourne has heard from a number of large companies, and as the network it's creating grows, the amount of talent in can provide does as well. He sees the company ultimately growing to handling millions of users. Retourne hopes to eventually allow companies to search other retiree networks to pull talent from people who worked in similar fields. It also hopes to eventually be a path for retiring veterans to transition back into private life.
“We’re ready to put the pedal down,” Steinert said.
