I'll try to summarize as best as possible, but it's a long story.
Worked in a factory for 6.5 years on nights, through the entirety of Covid, and I'd like to think I was more than useful. I'm married, my spouse works on dayshift at the same factory, and we have a two year old.
We decided that it was time for me to try and get on days. I agreed completely, I never saw my family so it was a no brainer. Transfers were open at the time based on seniority, and at one point I was in the top five or so. Every month, number one goes to days. And every month I was getting moved down the list. It came down to, “Give me a set date or I'll find work elsewhere.” I found work elsewhere.
Now I wanted to go back to the same location, I wanted to work with my spouse. However a policy changed after I left: if you took out your retirement/profit sharing in a lump sum upon leaving (I did, I was taking an $8 initial paycut to get days elsewhere) you now can't come back for 1 year vs 6 months. Company/corporate policy, they say. I've been gone 8 months now.
And this same place is advertising big and loud, having job fairs, everything. Desperate for help. They announced recently their night shift incentive pay is tripling what it previously was. We're talking $26/hour now.
But when asked, it's a big deal I want to go back. Hoops to jump through, policies to follow. What a load of crap.