revolving door syndrome

Noun

revolving door syndrome (usually uncountable, plural revolving door syndromes)

1. (idiomatic, usually) A situation in which employee turnover in an organization is inordinately high.
   • [S]exual harassment, stereotyping, racism, ageism, and sexual preference discrimination . . . have led to situations such as glass ceilings, earnings gaps, and the revolving door syndromes.2005, Thomas William Carlisle, Effects of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Psychological, Health, Social, and Behavioral Indicators of Stress Reduction and Human Resource Development in the...
   • "Unless this ‘revolving-door’ syndrome is dealt with, it will only lead to deterioration of the quality of staff, as you will continue to lose your best people," Banerjee wrote.2009 February 21, “Lab in breast cancer scare was beset with problems”, in Toronto Star, Canada, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2016, retrieved 01 Dec 2015
2. (idiomatic, usually) A situation in which a person or group repeats a cycle of behaviors or experiences, usually with unsuccessful or undesirable results.
   • While many states have some form of assisted treatment on the books, the challenge remains in getting them to utilize what is at their disposal rather than tolerating the revolving-door syndrome of hospital admissions, readmissions, abandonment to the streets and incarceration that engulfs those...1999 July 9, E. Fuller Torrey, Mary T. Zdanowicz, “Deinstitutionalization Hasn't Worked”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2016, retrieved 01 Dec 2015
   • Prison reform and the rehabilitation of prisoners need to be part of the fight against crime, since it is critical that revolving door syndromes of criminality be arrested.2005 September 28, Patrick Manning, Parliamentary Hansard of Trinidad and Tobago, archived from the original on 07 May 2021, page 34
3. (idiomatic, often, usually) A situation in which a person changes employers, perhaps more than once, switching between (a) employment with the government or with an organization having oversight authority and (b) employment with an organization regulated by or overseen by the other employer.
   • Concerns exist on both sides of the Atlantic regarding the effectiveness of government watchdogs and the growing influence of special interest groups within the bureaucracy. ‘Iron triangles’ and ‘revolving door syndromes’ which began as Washington concerns are showing their face in the UK too.2008, R. Uprichard, The Bureaucracies, Northern Ireland: Lurgan College, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2023
   • The report . . . called for a review of the effect of what it called a revolving door syndrome, in which analysts leave to work for an issuer whose debt they were rating.2009 August 28, Cyrus Sanati, “Inspector Faults S.E.C. on Oversight of Rating Agencies”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2021, retrieved 01 Dec 2015