In the last few years, workers have felt empowered to leave their jobs for greener pastures during the Great Resignation. According to new data however, it seems they’re feeling that it wasn’t greener on the other side after all.
Bloomberg reported that 4.2% of all new hires for companies that posted listings on LinkedIn were boomerangs, compared to 3.3% in 2019.
Coined “boomerang employees” by labor experts, workers are increasingly reporting that they regret leaving their old jobs. CNBC pointed out that payroll firm UKG found that 43% of people who quit their jobs during the pandemic now admit they were a better fit in their old roles.
It also reported that nearly 1 in 5 people who quit during the pandemic have returned to the positions they had during the pandemic.
“The Great Reshuffle obviously plays a big part, based on months of record-high resignations. As employees were resigning, a talent shortage was created in many roles,” said Jennifer Brick, a career coach in a CNBC interview.
“We’ve seen an emerging trend in talent acquisition to target former employees — they know the business, the workplace culture, and have lower onboarding costs.”
The Great Reshuffle that Brick is referring to describes what economists said was a phenomena where instead of quitting (Great Resignation) workers switched their occupation or field of work. This was the smarter, more realistic approach for many rather than leaving the labor force altogether, like nearly 4.4M workers did in February of last year.