12/23/2025
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๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ from a recent LinkedIn Article!! And we couldn't agree more....
Companies that leaned into AI this year โ and cut staff along the way โ will start bringing some of those same employees back after realizing certain work still needs a human touch, especially when customer trust is at stake. In fact, 55% of employers who laid off workers because of AI now regret that decision, according to recent research from Forrester.
Consider what's happening at Klarna, the Swedish buy-now-pay-later giant. In 2024, it touted a customer service chatbot that could do the work of 700 full-time agents โ but as its workforce shrank, so did customer satisfaction. This year, the CEO admitted those initial cuts were cost-driven and led to "lower quality." He says Klarna is now rehiring agents. Other companies, including Duolingo, are also recalibrating.
These early reversals hint at a growing trend: more "boomerang" employees. A recent Visier Inc. analysis of 2.4 million workers at 142 global companies found that roughly 5% of laid-off employees were rehired by a former employer in the past year โ a small but rising share.
The appeal? Boomerang hires already know the culture, ramp up faster and often return with a fresh perspective.
Would you ever return to a previous employer? Why or why not? Weigh in below. And check out the rest of this year's Big Ideas here: lnkd.in/BigIdeas2026. hashtag
