The company that laid you off wants you back. What do you say?

Thousands of federal workers have been let go and recalled in recent months. Some who landed different jobs declined, others jumped at the chance. A third group accepted warily while continuing to apply elsewhere.

Private-sector employees should think about what they would do in a similar situation because companies’ staffing levels can yo-yo during periods of economic uncertainty. A volatile stock market, on-again, off-again tariffs, and government funding that stops and starts are just some of the reasons employers might eliminate roles in one moment then look to hire in the next.

It’s already happening in some cases. In online job forums, people swap stories about being called back by companies including Meta, Salesforce and Pratt & Whitney.

“I have clients whose former companies have called them and said: ‘We actually need you. We were too aggressive in our cost-cutting initiatives,’ " says career adviser Debra Wheatman.

Deciding how to respond involves practical and emotional considerations. The first thought in your head might sound like an angry Taylor Swift lyric. (“We are never, ever, ever getting back together.") Holding a grudge is natural, and no one likes to look desperate.

Wheatman counsels clients to make sober assessments of their alternative job prospects and finances. If you’re being courted by other companies or sitting on ample severance, perhaps you can tell your old company to take a hike. If you’re in a precarious spot, your ex-employer might be the best available option.

“Think about some of the things you want to negotiate," she says. “You have a little bit of the upper hand because they want you back."

Some of her clients have gotten raises and promotions upon returning. Others have settled for the same jobs they had—sometimes with heavier workloads because of staff reductions.

Cut loose

Jessica Swenson accepted an offer to return to a former employer as a contractor. She wanted to try freelancing and says she relishes being her own boss.

Jessica Swenson lost her job at a branding agency on a Thursday. The following Monday, she was asked back as a contractor.

This was a bitter pill six months after she earned a promotion. Between savings and her husband’s income, Swenson, 48 years old, was tempted to say no.

“I could have told them to bug off and looked for new work, but we all know how the job market is," she says. She took the offer.

Despite an initial shot to her pride, Swenson doesn’t feel like a pushover several months later. She had always wanted to make a go of it as a freelance writer. Her layoff was the nudge she needed, and her old company quickly became her first client.

Swenson has added others. She says she makes about half as much money as she used to, but enjoys the freedom to set her own hours. On the day we spoke, she had gotten a haircut during business hours because she’s her own boss.

For Kristie Jones, who was laid off from her software sales-manager job after her company’s acquisition, the bridge was burned. She says she received an ominous calendar invitation on a Sunday night, was terminated in a meeting the next morning and escorted out of the office immediately. Her belongings at her desk were boxed by someone else and mailed to her.

Kristie Jones says her layoff was handled too callously for her to consider going back.

She says an executive on the new management team called her a few weeks later and offered to reinstate her, saying he had learned she was well regarded internally.

“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ " says Jones, 55. “I wouldn’t have had to go through all the emotional trauma if they’d taken time to talk to me or my boss or my employees before laying me off."

Though she didn’t have anything else lined up, she had six months’ severance. She’s now an independent sales consultant.

Boomerangs

Bosses who want to leave the door open would do well to practice layoff “hygiene," says Andrea Derler, who leads research at human-resources software maker Visier. That means treating people with dignity on the way out and keeping digital dossiers on them.

Customers for years have used Visier to track employees’ productivity, compensation and skill sets. Now artificial intelligence can quickly mine those records—including archived files on workers who have left—to identify strong candidates for job openings.

“The AI agent would, for example, run a search for appropriate skills profiles against a database of existing employees, former employees and new applicants," says Derler. “So if you want someone back, you can put them right into the candidate pool."

This is one reason why Derler expects there could be an uptick in boomerang employees. Invitations to return, long dependent on fond memories, can practically be automated.

Matt Massucci, chief executive of recruiting firm Hirewell, adds that businesses are more attuned to onboarding costs. This is the time and effort it takes to hire plus the three to six months of subpar production a new recruit is likely to deliver while getting up to speed. Bringing back an ex-employee who was a solid performer before a layoff can reduce those expenses.

He says it’s common now for a business going through a round of layoffs to encourage affected employees to apply for other roles within the company. The odds of a reunion often depend on whether the job cuts stemmed from external pressures, a reorganization or an effort to weed out underachievers.

“Work is just a relationship, and there are a lot of parallels to people who break up and get back together," Massucci says. “It comes down to: Why did you break up and how did you break up?"

Write to Callum Borchers at callum.borchers@wsj.com