A Returnship is essentially an internship that helps adults who have taken time away from their careers and are interested in re-entering the workforce. Returnships usually last a few weeks to a few months, typically offer payment that’s commensurate with an individual’s level of experience, and provides extra training and mentorship, helping folks reacquaint themselves with the work culture and pace of today’s work environment while improving skills that may have become rusty. “There’s actually a very large population of people out there who are interested in returning to the workforce, but don’t know how to go about it,” explains Diane Borhani, Talent Director at Deloitte LLP and leader of Deloitte’s “Encore Program,” the organization’s new returnship offering. “There’s an untapped pool of talent of qualified, diverse people who, with the right programs and approach, could definitely supplement the talent pool.” Returners have all sorts of motivations. “Sometimes they retired and now want to come back and restart their career and/or expand into a tangential field. Sometimes they've been caring for an elder parent,” says John Reif, senior manager of the workforce transformation team at Amazon Web Services. Carol Fishman Cohen, chair and cofounder of the career-reentry firm iRelaunch, says iRelaunch works with 70 global companies that have such programs. When asked about why people are seeking Returnships, she added, “There's also the validation of working. So much of our sense of self is wrapped up in our professional identities. And some people just miss work, the intellectual side, the social side, the challenge." Wondering if this is of interest to you and why...