If you were returning to work....

[user602318]

after a long term illness that has changed you as a person would you prefer to return to a job where you know your colleagues well or return to a job with new colleagues?

AIBU - colleagues I know
YANBU - new colleagues

Depends on the relationship with the current colleagues I think.

After I had a life changing injury, working with people who knew me and were happy to accomodate my needs without it being a big thing was really important.

Depends on my previous work persona and whether people liked me.

If everyone knows you as some super aggressive person and now you're meek and mild it could be quite tricky going back, might be better to have a clean slate somewhere else!

Depends on your relationship with your colleagues I guess. Where I work we are mostly a nice team and supportive. One of my colleagues returned after having cancer treatment a few years ago and most of my colleagues either offered to swap more physical tasks with them or agreed if they asked them, and they were encouraged by everyone to have short breaks throughout the day if they were feeling tired etc. But I can see how as supportive as the intention is, it might also be irritating and you might want a fresh start.

I'd rather start new.

I was off for some time with grief, I wasnt the same person and really struggle to slot back in, I could tell people didn't know how to talk to me either, was wierd.

I'm on maternity which is due to end about now, but won't be going back to my old job due to job loss but Id been dreading going back to the same old people and role, I massively changed (having a baby during pandemic will do that!) Starting new people will just know me for who I am now, and not who I was before I went off.

Depends on the relationship with the current colleagues I think

This ^

Plus, having been off work for quite a while, it can sometimes be quite a challenge to start work again, so as a rule that would probably seem less daunting to go back to something you were familiar with, than starting a brand new job, which is daunting at the best of times.

Of course, if the support and good relationships weren't there before you were off, then they are unlikely to be so afterwards.

Depends on the job or relationship you had with colleagues

Definitely depends on the job/colleagues.

If we didn’t have a good relationship then I can see why a clean slate of new staff would be appealing.

But if we got on well, having someone who knew you previously might help the settling back in and be nice to have a friendly face etc. It can be daunting to start from scratch building brand new relationships on top of the normal anxieties of returning to a job after a period of absence.