Steph96...my H is oilfield too. We went through this scenario deciding between field pay and hours vs. taking a huge paycut for management. He worked in the field for 7 years and truly, it was less stressful than his management job by far. Honestly, management has been pretty shitty hours too. He is home but working, phone rings at 2,4,5 a.m. quite often. They call during dinner and he gets called out often. He was on vacation, but getting called constantly and even went on a rig up. It is, however, the nature of the industry. When he was first approached about management it would have been a $50k-$70k pay cut. Eventually, he did make the leap to management (but my H is a Petroleum Engineer) and the cut was smaller, more like $20k. I understand your concerns. Honestly, we sound selfish when we talk about our spouses cutting back hours for less pay (knowing this may not be true), but this is the only industry I know that you basically fail (by $$ standards) upward. I supported H's decision, but we always discussed both sides. My H is being pursued for higher ranking positions right now that are less money than he is currently making. This industry is so odd in offering "opportunity" and promotions with severe paycuts.
Don't take all the attacks on you and how selfish you are for considering what this change may or may not mean in terms of hours and pay, personally. If you haven't lived it, it is hard to understand. FWIW, I am guessing her H works 12 hours on and 12 hours off but is still paid round the clock because he stays on location. That's how it was for us. My H could be gone weeks at a time. He was thrilled to get a "perfect paycheck" (336 hours for 2 weeks). The oilfield lifestyle is a whole other world for the entire family.
Don't take all the attacks on you and how selfish you are for considering what this change may or may not mean in terms of hours and pay, personally. If you haven't lived it, it is hard to understand. FWIW, I am guessing her H works 12 hours on and 12 hours off but is still paid round the clock because he stays on location. That's how it was for us. My H could be gone weeks at a time. He was thrilled to get a "perfect paycheck" (336 hours for 2 weeks). The oilfield lifestyle is a whole other world for the entire family.
Pom, thanks for your input. It really was helpful! I'm really wondering if this situation where non oilfield people don't quite understand (no offense to anyone, I get that the field is hard for outsiders to understand). He actually isn't 12h on 12h off. This is a show up in the morning and work until your job is done type thing. Heck, he had to leave at 4am today so that he will hopefully be home at a "decent" time (aka before 10-11pm). He is only paid for his time on the road and on locations, so it actually is the amount of time he works. He had 10 hours of drive time today, so it's not like he is breaking his back 18 hours a day.
Knowing what you know about the industry, what do you think about this? This is as far as he can go within the company. His next move will have to be a new company that is hopefully out of the oilfield. Since it will be a new industry (hopefully with a college degree and no direct experience) he will probably not be able to jump straight into management. Obviously if they are willing to at least match his current salary he will take it, but asking for a raise that big doesn't seem likely when he had to fight them for months to get a $1 raise.
I don't think I've seen you answer the question of how many hours a week you work?
I work 40-45 hours a week. Since he is gone so much, I'm the one that is in charge of cleaning, cooking, dog stuff, appointments, laundry, etc. it's not like I'm sitting at home eating Bon-Bons. I make it to where he gets to come home and not have to do any work.
Even if I got a full time job on top of my job, it wouldn't even come close to covering the pay cut.
Don't take all the attacks on you and how selfish you are for considering what this change may or may not mean in terms of hours and pay, personally. If you haven't lived it, it is hard to understand. FWIW, I am guessing her H works 12 hours on and 12 hours off but is still paid round the clock because he stays on location. That's how it was for us. My H could be gone weeks at a time. He was thrilled to get a "perfect paycheck" (336 hours for 2 weeks). The oilfield lifestyle is a whole other world for the entire family.
Pom, thanks for your input. It really was helpful! I'm really wondering if this situation where non oilfield people don't quite understand (no offense to anyone, I get that the field is hard for outsiders to understand). He actually isn't 12h on 12h off. This is a show up in the morning and work until your job is done type thing. Heck, he had to leave at 4am today so that he will hopefully be home at a "decent" time (aka before 10-11pm). He is only paid for his time on the road and on locations, so it actually is the amount of time he works. He had 10 hours of drive time today, so it's not like he is breaking his back 18 hours a day.
Knowing what you know about the industry, what do you think about this? This is as far as he can go within the company. His next move will have to be a new company that is hopefully out of the oilfield. Since it will be a new industry (hopefully with a college degree and no direct experience) he will probably not be able to jump straight into management. Obviously if they are willing to at least match his current salary he will take it, but asking for a raise that big doesn't seem likely when he had to fight them for months to get a $1 raise.
Personally, based on our past experiences in the industry, I and most likely H would recommend staying hourly in this situation. Virtually all of the managers I know who went from being paid hourly to salary were pretty unhappy with the drop in pay compared to the hours that will pretty much always be required. One of H's District Managers under him requested going from salary back to being an operator in the field because he makes closer to $50k+ more with hourly wages with his OT, bonuses, and per diem. Does he do something like wireline? Getting the company to up the salary range is probably not going to happen either.
It is hard money to walk away from, but I wish your H well as he goes back to school to have a better work/life balance for you both. If you ever want to chat further, feel free to PM me.