Returning to work for a former employer known as Boomeranging is back to fashion.
In March, Boomerang employees accounted for 35% of new hires, up from 31% the previous year. Payroll Provider ADP.
“The trend of workers returning to their previous employers continues,” ADP chief economist Nella Richardson told Yahoo Finance. “It’s permanent.”
For employers, “the labor market has a lot of uncertainty and attention, and it is manifesting in the rise in boomerang employment,” she said. “Employers are trying to get as much efficiency as possible from the workforce. That means hiring and hiring people who are already familiar with the grass. They know the workers, the workers know them.”
The Boomerang trend gets even bigger when you count federal employees returning to their previous jobs. Government Trump administration officials are rushing to rehire experienced workers who were kicked out this spring under Doge’s staff thrashing initiative.
For example, there were more than 460 layoff employees from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is reportedly Last week I was informed that they had been rehired.
Boomerang’s employment will be a wave. In the summer of 2020, it spiked as businesses sprinted to revive workers during that spring pandemic shutdown.
Then, in 2022, millions of workers left their jobs during a massive resignation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the closing rate was 3% in March 2022, with 4.5 million workers voluntarily resigning from their jobs.
In many cases, the driving force was money. Job Switcher wage growth has skyrocketed as employers seduced workers with sweet compensation packages. No one looked back. Boomerang workers have sunk to a 26% low in new hire share per ADP.
Nowadays, far fewer people are leaving their jobs. In April, resignations fell to 2% or 3.19 million workers. At the same time, rehiring of boomerangs is steadily rising.
Richardson said this employment trend has attracted steam across virtually every industry, especially in media, publishing, software development and technology.
Other factors that spur the trend include the domino effect from the housing market. “People are less motivated than ever to move for work,” Richardson said. “The housing market is cooled down due to higher interest rates, higher home prices and the ability to work remotely, so workers are not likely to move for work. So, if you don’t want to move, going back to your local employer is a stronger option than 20 years ago.”
Generally speaking, sending your resume blindly to job postings that have no connections is a dead end. Employers hire people they know, or those they know.
However, if you break up from work on good conditions, there is no reason to not check in again.
“In a new company, grass isn’t always green. Sometimes you find that your previous workplace is doing more than you remember,” career strategist Nancy Ankowitz told Yahoo Finance. “You’ll be given the opportunity to go back and bring sharp skills and fresh perspectives to the familiar ground.”
When you come back together, and appeal to you, you may join a former employer alumni group on LinkedIn and Facebook. Check out the job posting board. If you have an eye-catching position, don’t be embarrassed to contact a former manager or former co-president.
“Relationships are important – reaching out to a former colleague can give you an internal scoop of team and management, and sometimes even opening the door for you for an introduction or good word,” Ancowitz said.
Once you reach out, show how you grew. “Please shine a spotlight on the new skills, insights and connections you gained since you left, and explain how you would like to use them to make an even greater impact this time,” she added.
But keep an eye on why you resigned. Many people quit their jobs because of the boss’s bad and you don’t want to go back to a toxic environment.
“You’ve probably heard the proverb: ‘People don’t leave their jobs, they leave their managers,'” Ankowitz said. “I’m always watching this. Even companies that are regularly ranked as the top place for work can have a poor pocket of management. A manager who turns Sunday nights into sleepless countdowns on Mondays.”
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Before making the reconnection move, ask yourself: Would you report to someone who brings out your best? “It’s often a game-changer for boomerang success,” Ankowitz said.
I discovered that the door is always open when you leave with grace. I have resigned five jobs in my career. And when I ran my own business, my former employers and bosses all became stable clients.
“When I talk to HR managers around the country about businesses of all sizes, they say the exit conversation has changed over the past two years,” Richardson said. “It’s like we value you, and if that doesn’t work, just keep us in mind. It’s not goodbye, it’s ‘See you later, let’s stay in touch.’ That’s a big difference. ”
And, as Ancowitz said, “Sometimes, the sequels are really better than the original.”
Kelly Hannon is a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and author of the upcoming 14 books “Retirement Bite: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future,” “Controlled with 50+: How to succeed in the new world of work.” And follow her, “Don’t get older to be rich.” Blue skiing.
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