GREEN COUNTRY — The "Great Resignation" hit employers hard during the Covid-19 pandemic. In March of 2022 alone, the U.S. Department of Labor reported 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs. However, recent studies find more people are returning to work and not just any job. Many are going right back to the place they left.
The study"Resign, Resigned, or Re-sign?" conducted by the Workforce Institute, found "43% of workers who left now say they were better off at their previous jobs, which amounts to more than 15 million people who've resigned during the Great Resignation." That survey also found "nearly one in five workers worldwide have already boomeranged back to a job they left during the pandemic, and 41% would be open to a return if it were an option."
"I really was just looking for other opportunities," said Terry George, Workforce Management Analyst atGateway First Bank.
George spent three years as a workforce management analyst when he decided to leave during the pandemic. He wanted to work from home. So, he hired on with a Florida-based company.
"When I got there, I found a significantly different culture than what was online," said George.
The 60-70-hour a week workload made him realize within weeks, he had made a mistake and immediately contacted his previous employer.
George is definitely not alone. According toLinkedIn data, "Of all new hires among companies on LinkedIn, 4.5% were boomerang workers in 2021, compared to 3.9% in 2019."
A few aisles away from where Terry George works, we found Kenneth Badilla. He is back at Gateway First Bank, too, though in a new position.
He left a customer service post he had held for several years to pursue an advanced degree. When the Covid19 pandemic hit, he found it actually helped him focus on school.
"Once that was done, I started looking around and see what else was out there," said Kenneth Badilla, a boomerang employee at Gateway First Bank who now holds the title of Servicing Operations Analyst II. "And I saw Gateway had some openings and especially in this department and where I wanted to be when I was originally here, so that worked out."
"We had a position that opened up and he was a he was just a shoo-in for it," said Earl Dunham, Senior Vice President of Servicing, Gateway First Bank. "He already knew the business. He knew the culture and he has been with us a little over a year now. He is doing great."
Both men report to Dunham, who manages the bank's largest group of 120 employees at the Jenks location. Dunham believes boomerang employees are helping to fill the labor gap. When asked for the main reason he is seeing former employees return, he said, "Our culture. Just the supportive teamwork that we have here."
Terry George agreed it was good to return to the team he knows.
"Working at home is nice on those days when it's snowy and you don't have to get out but if I can come in be around people, hear laughter and not just hear silence at home when I'm working," George added. "It gets me motivated and I am much more productive that way."
Kenneth Badilla shared the key to getting a job back or landing a new one.
"No matter what job you're at, always do your best and always leave in a good note," Badilla said. "Especially if it is a place you can see yourself working at again, because you never know you might end up in that same place again."
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