Job WWYD

[noodleoo]

Initial thoughts: I wouldn't go to a competitor that is recruiting you for a pay cut! Why wouldn't you get more money? I'd pursue it but push hard to be compensated for your experience.

[mcsangel2]

In this job market, there is no way on God's green earth I would leave a job I was so well established at for LESS money AND no pension.

[jaylea]

I wouldn’t take a decrease in pay in this market. If you consider it, ask for more money at the very least - above where you are. If they want you, they’ll pay.

It doesn’t seem like there are better trade offs from
Your description.

[lemoncupcake]

Totally agree with the others - I don’t see what the real upside would be to leaving.

[RockNVoll]

Agree with everyone else. Curious why you think you'd take a pay cut though? It's definitely an employee's market right now. I'd find out more and wouldn't make a pre-emptive decision.

I also hope you're making a big deal in your self-review about the fact that you've been doing the work of two people and deserve a huge bonus!

[Cappy]

I'd just stay and maybe push a little to get the extra staffing where you are.

[ellipses84]

Have you had an initial interview yet? If not, I would do that. A lot would depend on my in person impression of the company and bosses / coworkers. It’s good you have insider intel. Interview and if they give you an offer, negotiate pay and benefits. You can always stay where you are.

I did go to a competitor once, but it wasn’t directly from one to the other. My old company had disparaged the competitor a lot, as there were many people who knew each other and employees who moved back and forth over the years. When I interviewed I found out not everything I heard was true and they’d accomplished some goals that were important to me, that the old company could never achieve due to lack of leadership support for my department. It turned out to be an amazing place to work and I cried when I had to put in my notice because we were moving. The pandemic gave an opportunity to work remotely part-time with them again and our department has improved even more.

[jlt19]

You never know, they may be able to meet your requirement. When I initially talked to the recruiter for my job and gave her my requirement, she said "but that's negotiable, right?". I was definitely worried. But my offer was for that amount and I was also able to negotiate an additional 5%.

But I am with the rest, in that I wouldn't leave in this market for a paycut unless I was pretty unhappy where I was.

[cosmowife]

Working for a company that would force workers to take paycuts (even under the guise of “leveling”) would be a no-go for me. They should be “leveling” by bringing people up, not forcing workers to take cuts. This makes me all kinds of angry.

[konapoppy]

I would interview. But with your goals, I wouldn’t accept an offer that is lower than what you have now unless you are willing to change your goals. I totally hear you on the burnout. Can you take some extra time off to ease that a tiny bit?

[purplepenguin7]

Dec 16, 2021 22:32:03 GMT -5 ewall said:

Dec 16, 2021 10:42:16 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Agree with everyone else. Curious why you think you'd take a pay cut though? It's definitely an employee's market right now. I'd find out more and wouldn't make a pre-emptive decision.

I also hope you're making a big deal in your self-review about the fact that you've been doing the work of two people and deserve a huge bonus!

Competitor went through some “salary leveling” of sorts earlier in 2021 and apparently some people took pay cuts related to that. When I mentioned my salary requirement to them in conversation, it was kind of like crickets afterwards. I don’t think they realized my current company was paying so well these days.

To be clear, I haven’t interviewed yet. This is all Q1 2022 moves that they are talking about with people retiring and moving to other markets. I cover a market that is undesirable to most. I’m attractive in that they know I’m committed to this market (I live here) and committed to the industry with plenty of experience. They just want somebody so the market will be on autopilot. It’s not a significant enough market that they want to have to deal with it often, whether that be hiring for it or visiting it themselves. Not sure if any of that makes sense!

WHAT??? NO!  Do not work for this company.  Salary leveling is meant to bring employees up to the same level, not down.  My company just went through this and many many people got increases.  I would never work for a company that thought this was a good practice, i can't imagine how else they treat employees. 

On top of that, with that you said about how valuable your expertise is there is ZERO chance i'd even consider going to there for less unless I was unemployed or hated my current job beyond belief. 

[wildrice]

This is a big nope for me, especially with the salary leveling thing. It does not sound like a good employer. They are probably seeing so many retirements because people don't want to work for them anymore.

[goldengirlz]

Ordinarily, I’d say there’s no harm in interviewing, but there are too many red flags here, I think.

It seems like the only thing attracting you is the possibility of streamlining your workload/not doing two jobs, but if your company can fix that with more headcount, then it seems like a no brainer to stay. If they can’t, you can still find another job in 2022 but it doesn’t seem like THIS job is the right one.

[Deleted]

I was at my previous company for 13 years and relatively happy with what i was doing (a little bored with the job - I mean, it was crazy busy but the job itself got boring to me) and went to a competitor back in July. I just needed a change and I'm so happy I made the jump. I'm not going to say it's perfect, but I needed a change and it's been great in that regard.

However, this change came with an increased salary and increased bonus. I would no way have made the jump for less money - and now being here for almost 6 months, if I did, I would say I'd be very unhappy with my choice.

[RockNVoll]

Dec 16, 2021 22:32:03 GMT -5 ewall said:

Dec 16, 2021 10:42:16 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Agree with everyone else. Curious why you think you'd take a pay cut though? It's definitely an employee's market right now. I'd find out more and wouldn't make a pre-emptive decision.

I also hope you're making a big deal in your self-review about the fact that you've been doing the work of two people and deserve a huge bonus!

Competitor went through some “salary leveling” of sorts earlier in 2021 and apparently some people took pay cuts related to that. When I mentioned my salary requirement to them in conversation, it was kind of like crickets afterwards. I don’t think they realized my current company was paying so well these days.

To be clear, I haven’t interviewed yet. This is all Q1 2022 moves that they are talking about with people retiring and moving to other markets. I cover a market that is undesirable to most. I’m attractive in that they know I’m committed to this market (I live here) and committed to the industry with plenty of experience. They just want somebody so the market will be on autopilot. It’s not a significant enough market that they want to have to deal with it often, whether that be hiring for it or visiting it themselves. Not sure if any of that makes sense!

From an outsider's perspective, it sounds like you're a unicorn employee for them, in which case you're more valuable, not less.  What's the saying?  Make sure you're running to something and not just away from something else.

[konapoppy]

I agree with everyone that the new employer doesn’t sound great and you should run towards something.

But psychologically, it can be helpful to interview. It might confirm your feelings or the (what I assume is a) rumor about the pay cuts.

Burnout is real, and confirming “the grass isn’t always greener” may help you stay in the game longer. And you may use it to your advantage internally to expedite the extra resources. Otherwise, you may find yourself daydreaming the what if’s.