Revolving Door Syndrome Meaning

(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.

Example: 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."
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.
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.
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.