English

Alternative forms

• revolving-door syndrome

Proper noun

revolving door syndrome

1. (idiomatic) A situation in which employee turnover in an organization is inordinately high.
   • 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 Indian Workplace, UMI Microform 3158900, p. 279:

     [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.

   • 2009 Feb. 21, "Lab in breast cancer scare was beset with problems," Toronto Star (Canada) (retrieved 1 Dec 2015):

     "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.

   • 2013 Oct. 21, Jennifer Rooney, "The Rise Of The In-House Agency," Forbes (retrieved 1 Dec 2015):

     "At agencies, you have the revolving-door syndrome. We have a lot more stability here. . . . [W]e are able to attract and retain solid talent because Fidelity has a lot to offer in terms of benefits, stability."

2. (idiomatic) A situation in which a person or group repeats a cycle of behaviors or experiences, usually with unsuccessful or undesirable results.
   • 1999 July 9, E. Fuller Torrey and Mary T. Zdanowicz, "Deinstitutionalization Hasn't Worked," Washington Post (retrieved 1 Dec 2015):

     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 not receiving treatment.

   • 2005 Sep. 28, Patrick Manning, Parliamentary Hansard of Trinidad and Tobago, p. 34 (Google preview):

     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.

   • 2007 Aug. 8, Betsy Powell, "BLT taking bite out of crime," Toronto Star (Canada) (retrieved 1 Dec 2015):

     Homan said the revolving-door syndrome is particularly frustrating and she and others have been pushing for the repeat offenders to be prohibited from returning.

3. (idiomatic, often government) A situation in which an individual 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.
   • 2008, R. Uprichard, "The Bureaucracies," Lurgan College (Northern Ireland):

     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.

   • 2009 Aug. 28, Cyrus Sanati, "Inspector Faults S.E.C. on Oversight of Rating Agencies," New York Times (retrieved 1 Dec 2015):

     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.

   • 2010 Feb. 5, Chandrashekhar Krishnan, "Abusing power for private gain," Guardian (UK) (retrieved 1 Dec 2015):

     That leads us to question whether other practices in parliament and politics may be vulnerable to corruption: conflicts of interest, the role of lobbying, political party funding and the "revolving door" syndrome in which parliamentarians take jobs in areas where their knowledge of some government departments gives them an undue advantage.

See also

• conflict of interest