When an employer says “You’re more than welcome to come back in the future” do they mean it?

n1guy

When you leave a job and your employer says this do they actually mean it or are they just being polite?

This happened to me a few months back,  I was in this job, only in it 3 months, i thought I struggled, the training was limited and you were just kinda expected to know even though the listing said “Full training provided”. when I handed in my notice the boss told me this, people who never even spoke to me became friendly for some reason, even the boss who never spoke was having conversations, I remember thinking at the time “If you had of been more friendly I maybe wouldn’t be leaving” it was a really unfriendly workplace, no one said as much as good morning to me. 

Anyway a friend was out of work recently, a guy I worked with for over 10 years and I recommend this employer, he went and got the job, he got talking to some of the employees who asked about me, and what I actually did when I worked with him, the guys response “You’re full off xxxx, he didn’t do that for 10 years”. My friends response “No your right, he didn’t do it 10 years, he did it for 15 years before ever working with me” basically was hinting in my 3 months working there despite no training I was effectively useless.  

Which makes me thing the employer was full of crap when he said that, and they all became talkative because they were happy I was leaving.  It’s all kinda annoyed me more than it should, I’ll happily admit I hated that job so why should I care what they think but I do.  Just to spice it up a bit more,  the person who said that about me is friends with someone I work with in my new job, as long as that crap doesn’t travel. 

MattMattMattUK

They could mean it, they could just be being polite, no one but the ex employer knows for sure.

HampshireH

If it was an employee and not the employer then it's not relevant as the employer who said your welcome back would presumably be the hiring manager (or equivalent too)

Some people just don't like having to pick up a workload when someone leaves (most already have enough to do) and moan to whoever has ears. Your friend was obviously seen as fresh ears and a source of info.

Just ignore it. You don't want to go back anyway.

As a hiring manager over the years I  have rerecruited former employees and have also been rerecruited. Sometimes people want a change or are offered something else and sometimes it doesn't work out.

n1guy

HampshireH said:

If it was an employee and not the employer then it's not relevant as the employer who said your welcome back would presumably be the hiring manager (or equivalent too)

Some people just don't like having to pick up a workload when someone leaves (most already have enough to do) and moan to whoever has ears. Your friend was obviously seen as fresh ears and a source of info.

Just ignore it. You don't want to go back anyway.

As a hiring manager over the years I  have rerecruited former employees and have also been rerecruited. Sometimes people want a change or are offered something else and sometimes it doesn't work out.

Yeah true.  I’m probably just overthinking it all.  If I was that bad the employer may not have even hired my friend, the employer knew we worked together at the same firm, my name even came up in the interview. 

Undervalued

n1guy said:

When you leave a job and your employer says this do they actually mean it or are they just being polite?

This happened to me a few months back,  I was in this job, only in it 3 months, i thought I struggled, the training was limited and you were just kinda expected to know even though the listing said “Full training provided”. when I handed in my notice the boss told me this, people who never even spoke to me became friendly for some reason, even the boss who never spoke was having conversations, I remember thinking at the time “If you had of been more friendly I maybe wouldn’t be leaving” it was a really unfriendly workplace, no one said as much as good morning to me. 

Anyway a friend was out of work recently, a guy I worked with for over 10 years and I recommend this employer, he went and got the job, he got talking to some of the employees who asked about me, and what I actually did when I worked with him, the guys response “You’re full off xxxx, he didn’t do that for 10 years”. My friends response “No your right, he didn’t do it 10 years, he did it for 15 years before ever working with me” basically was hinting in my 3 months working there despite no training I was effectively useless.  

Which makes me thing the employer was full of crap when he said that, and they all became talkative because they were happy I was leaving.  It’s all kinda annoyed me more than it should, I’ll happily admit I hated that job so why should I care what they think but I do.  Just to spice it up a bit more,  the person who said that about me is friends with someone I work with in my new job, as long as that crap doesn’t travel. 

Obviously in some cases they mean it and in others they don't.

It is a bit like "hello, how are you". If you know the person well then you may be genuinely interested in their state of health. In other situations it is a meaningless phrase that seems to have become the norm.

lincroft1710

Many decades ago when my father was hiring manager at a printers, employees often left his company to go and work for the rival printers in town (ostensibly for more money). Most came back after a year or two. It was one of those things which was accepted as a norm for the industry