1.5 million UK workers plan to rejoin previous employer

New research shows that 1 in 5 (19%) employees had either returned to a previous employer or plan to in the near future.

The latest study from employee benefits provider Unum UK shows that 1 in 3 (36%) UK workers said company culture in combination with better employee benefits had or would tempt them back.

Among the surveyed ‘boomerang’ employees, work/life balance was a reason behind more than a third of employees returning (34%) – indicating the importance workers now put on juggling their personal and professional lives since the pandemic forced so many to adapt to home working.

These findings might be viewed by some employers as a welcome relief during a particularly challenging time, as of February 2022 there were a record 1.3 million vacancies in the UK.

87% of employees surveyed said they would boomerang again in the future – 33% of whom would do so for a higher salary closely followed by 28% who would move for a better benefits package.

As well as work culture and better benefits, among those who said they boomeranged to a previous employer, or plan to, some of the other reasons for returning were:

Glenn Thompson, chief distribution officer at Unum UK, said: “Although the offering of better salary or promotions is important in employees’ decisions, it’s the combination of culture, benefits and work/life balance that are proving crucial to employees’ choice to stay, leave or boomerang.

“With a very tight labour market, employers must understand these factors and offer what employees need to be tempted back, given rehiring an old employee can potentially be more efficient than training someone who’s brand new to the business.”