New data from LinkedIn's Economic Graph team shows more U.S. employees are returning to former employers.
The data — published March 30 and based on a study of about 32 million LinkedIn members' job histories — shows 4.3 percent of job switches last year in the U.S. across all industries were employees who "boomeranged," or returned to work for a former employer. That compares to less than 2 percent in 2010. LinkedIn found the average time it took employees to return to an old employer was 17.3 months.
Within hospitals and healthcare, 4.3 percent of job switches last year also were "boomerang hires," according to LinkedIn. The average time for hospital and healthcare workers to return to an old employer was 16.5 months.
"It could happen to any of us," George Anders wrote for LinkedIn. "We're doing all right in our current jobs, when an exciting new offer from a different organization comes along. We accept — make the move — and then begin to wonder if we goofed. Or perhaps we like the new job, but our old employer misses us terribly. And then we start getting offers to come back on vastly better terms."
Overall, the findings show that some people are returning to former jobs even amid the "Great Resignation." In February, 4.4 million Americans left their jobs, and healthcare job growth slowed in March.