I used to work as a frontline healthcare worker last year but felt stagnant in my role. I wanted a change, and when an opportunity arose to switch to a Health IT position within the same company, I jumped at it. This new role came with a new title, a raise, and a hybrid work setup. However, my replacement from my old job left two months ago, and the company has struggled to find someone to fill that position. My old manager, who I still work with in some capacity, has been asking me if I’d be interested in coming back. My old coworkers have also reached out, which makes me think they might miss the amount of work I used to handle. Recently, I jokingly asked my old manager about the possibility of returning to my old role, maybe even working a 4/10 schedule with a raise. She said that while she could likely accommodate the schedule, the pay is up to HR and is complicated by union rules. I trust her because I’ve experienced how raises were handled through union negotiations in the past. I’ve realized that I’m not a fan of the corporate world. I appreciate the flexibility of my hybrid role, but I dread leading meetings and feel overwhelmed by coworkers who don’t pull their weight, forcing me to take on more work. I often find myself working late into the night. My initial plan was to stick with this role long enough to gain experience and then transition to a fully remote position. There’s also the potential to earn over $200k if I progress up the corporate ladder, while my old position had a ceiling of $175k with slow raises. Now, I'm torn about what to do. If I consider going back, I’d have to negotiate with the same HR team that knows my current salary. I’m concerned about how they would view my desire to leave my current role after just a year. The pay range for my old position is between $48-86/hr, and I want to know how to effectively negotiate for the upper end of that range without a manager backing me up. I’ve switched careers three times and never had much leverage to negotiate, especially since I was either fresh out of school or hired for my workflow knowledge without a degree. I’m grateful for my current position, making six figures without a degree, but I find myself longing for the familiarity and ease of my old job where I excelled. Should I just tough it out in my current role, or is it worth considering a return to something I know I’m good at?