Stay in Cushy Job or Take Big Pay Cut to Learn New Skill?

Anything to do with the traditional world of get a degree, get a job as well as its alternatives
Post Reply
Zach
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 6:55 pm

Stay in Cushy Job or Take Big Pay Cut to Learn New Skill?

Post by Zach »

I am at a bit of a crossroads and could use some advice (or war stories from others who have been there).

Background: I currently work in a job where I am very well paid, enjoy my core function, have a good manager, and have good benefits. I am well established with just the right amount of seniority where I don’t have to deal with grunt work but where I also am not having to take on the demands of a high-ranking leadership role. I get to leave at 5:00 everyday and I have a fair degree of flexibility. It is, in a word, cushy.

However...there are serious problems with the organizational leadership. They make the work environment reactive and dysfunctional. There is virtually no process for anything, they make contradictory and ambiguous demands, and they often make impulsive decisions which leave us with tons of damage control to do. They have also done things which I consider seriously unethical, and it makes me very uncomfortable to be contributing to what they’re doing even indirectly.

On top of that, I am stagnating in my current role: there’s not much more room to learn new things except for management (which I have no interest in doing) and politics (I recently earned the “privilege” of representing the department at high-level meetings that mostly consist of posturing).

At the risk of sounding naive, I understand that a certain level of politicking and dysfunction is likely to be part of any working environment. But I have been feeling very guilty lately about the ethics problems.

Which brings me to my question: I might have the opportunity to get a new job that would allow me to pick up a skill that I’ve wanted to develop for a long time. This is also a somewhat rare opportunity, as any openings in this field usually require applicants to have an established track record first. This organization wants to bring on someone who can dedicate all of their time to this function that they can train in their own way.

This new job would fit well into my ERE web of goals for several reasons:
1. If I work at it, this skill can potentially become its own income stream. It’s in high demand and I could conceivably become self-employed in this field, start my own business around it, or even just do this on the side while working full-time in another field.
2. The office is physically closer to where I live (only five miles away), which means I could lower my energy footprint, not have to rely on mechanized transportation to get to work, and save money on transit costs.
3. The organization has what I consider to be a very worthy mission, and I have personally benefited from its services. I think my conscience would probably feel better working there.

There are catches, though:
1. This new job would pay significantly less. I could be taking as much as a 45% pay cut. Now, this lower salary would still be far in excess of what I need for my expenses (I can probably still easily pull off a 50%+ savings rate), but I won’t pretend that it’s hard to give up the prospect of reaching FI much faster and the additional safety margin for unexpected expenses.
2. While my research and experience indicate that this is a better managed organization, there are no guarantees that it’s not just as dysfunctional.
3. I would be going from an environment where I’m well established to starting from the bottom again. The organization is likely vulnerable to economic shocks, and I do wonder whether my lack of seniority could lead to me being the first to get the boot in the event of a downsizing.

Now, logically, none of these should be dealbreakers because my expenses are low, I’m already in a dysfunctional place to begin with, and I have ~10 years of expenses saved and a seasonal part-time job that could cushion the impact of being laid off.

My issue is more emotional. I am having trouble with the idea of leaving the safety of my current position for the Great Unknown. I can’t tell if I’m just getting Stockholm Syndrome or if my emotions are trying to tell me that I’m making a decision too rashly.

Any advice, thoughts, or stories of similar experiences would be appreciated :)

BRUTE
Posts: 3797
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:20 pm

Re: Stay in Cushy Job or Take Big Pay Cut to Learn New Skill?

Post by BRUTE »

brute would make this dependent on how far along with FIRE Zach already is. 10 years of expenses - is the goal 25 years? that's almost half. in that case, assuming the goal isn't too learn, brute would go for the new job. ~50% of a career is enough to learn a new skillset and find fulfillment. should the new job be equally dysfunctional, or should Zach get laid off, it might not be too hard to get back into the old industry at old pay.

saving-10-years
Posts: 554
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:37 am
Location: Warwickshire, UK

Re: Stay in Cushy Job or Take Big Pay Cut to Learn New Skill?

Post by saving-10-years »

@Zach I moved from being a senior manager with a permanent and high status job (politically and financially) to a temporary contract academic post in an evolving area and without job security plus a 20% pay cut. The opportunity was a very unusual one, it was one that gave me more work flexibility, it was one which I had more passion for. The job I was leaving was being restructured to become something I did not want to be part of (I would have been in line for significant promotion had I stayed). I have no regrets but …

These were jobs within the same organisation so I could retain some of my same support networks and the same pension scheme. I knew a lot about this organisation and was taking a gamble that I would get made permanent before the end of the temporary (3 year) contract and that I would get back to at least the same salary level within 10 years (which would mean that there was no negative effect on pension). So my gamble is less than yours and it paid off.

One thing to mention as you bring up ethics. I worked for educational and charitable concerns for the last 24 years of employment and walking out the door at 5pm was very difficult. Its the trade off. You feel more passionate about your work, the resource are often not there so you may find that you fill the gap and effectively run two jobs. Would not leaving at 5pm impact your life?

It has been my experience that just because the organisation's mission is ethical the politics and bad human behaviour can still be there. When an organisation is more stretched (less slack) then this becomes more critical so be wary. The bad management matters more (to me at least) when the stakes are higher (more ethical). Seriously you can't escape bad management and its rare to not have this stress you. Unless you start up on your own (different stress).

Is there any way that your current employer might be open to adding in some education/professional development that you really want to do (maybe to skill you for a future change?) or could they put you into an area where the ethical shortcomings don't disturb you so much? INTJ/Ps here - me included - often get twitchy if there is no challenge and/or if they can see the lies behind the veil.

Offering these suggestions not because I think its a bad plan (its one I sort of followed and enjoyed for more than a decade), but because in retrospect I could have maybe made more of my higher-paid job and retired earlier and enjoyed complete freedom earlier.

User avatar
Seppia
Posts: 2009
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 9:34 am
Location: South Florida

Re: Stay in Cushy Job or Take Big Pay Cut to Learn New Skill?

Post by Seppia »

Interesting situation.
I tend to agree with BRUTE, if you are well on your way to FI, well, this kind of freedom is exactly what FI or almost FI should "buy" in my opinion: the option not to care about money.
If on the other hand you are still relatively early, I would definitely keep the current job.
If your problem is ethics, you could use part of the extra money you make to contribute to causes you care about

jay
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 6:09 pm
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: Stay in Cushy Job or Take Big Pay Cut to Learn New Skill?

Post by jay »

I agree with Seppia - the whole purpose of FI is to have freedom...and this is a great example of the freedom you have now that you are pursuing FI! Most people in your situation would be forced to stay at the higher-paying job, but you are not. You have the tools and knowledge you need to continue saving toward FI, even with a lower salary. I say go for the change - it's an opportunity to make daily life a bit more interesting and you will likely experience more personal growth as a result of the change. Best of luck!

Post Reply