A record number of Americans are quitting their jobs, but some might later regret their decision.
In March alone, 4.5 million Americans left their job, a figure that represents 3% of the entire labor force.
“People move too fast,” said Andrew McCaskill, a career expert with Linkedin. “They were prioritizing the wrong perks and the wrong benefits and the challenge of being remote and the remote hiring process, folks just did not get a chance to ask all the right questions or really get those cultural cues to let them know this is a good place for me.”
He said if you're thinking about leaving your current role, you should consider talking with your manager first. You may be surprised how much they'll be willing to work with you to find a different opportunity within the company, he said.
There is also a growing number of people who returned to their old jobs. So-called “boomerangs” accounted for 4.5% of all new hires among companies on Linkedin this year, which is up from 3.9% in 2019.
“Part of it was during the pandemic, it was harder to sink roots into a company,” said Jim Kilmas, a boomerang employee who returned to his old job after 18 months. “I missed some of the colleagues and the confidence that I could do important work and add value and have impact."
The average time that Americans boomerang back also went down from 22 months to 17 months, according to Linkedin now.
Historically, boomeranging has been seen as a negative thing, but that’s not really the case now. A tight job market is giving employees more of a voice than they ever had before.
“I think it's the first time we've seen employers really welcoming that trend as well to say, 'We'd love to have you back here,'” said Laura Mazzullo, the founder of East Side Staffing.
“Your old job may be filled now, but there still may be opportunities inside the enterprise for you to come back to the company and take all of the skills that you used to have and the things that you've learned since and have a really high impact,” McCaskill said.
If you stay at a company for a short time, McCaskill recommends developing a thought-out answer when asked why you left a company. He added to make sure anytime you're leaving a company that you do it on good terms.