Jack in well paid job to be a cleaner ??

[Beachside123]

I have a reasonably well paid job for the area I live (£35k). I work long full time hours and it’s quite stressful at times.
I’ve been hoping to move to a less stressful job and take a pay cut.
I’ve been offered a housekeeping position which is mostly cleaning but a bit of organising and the like. It’s paid much less of course but is the same amount of hours but hardly any commute.
I don’t know what to do, AIBU to take less stress and less money or continue to be work stressed but comfortable?

I'm a full time cleaner and after four years I'm finding it physically exhausting and monotous.

Obviously don't do this. That would be a terrible decision.

Do you really enjoy cleaning? Like, really really enjoy it? If so, then I can sort of see how this might make sense but if not, why would you take a paycut to work the same hours as you already do?

What makes you think being a cleaner would be less stressful than your current job? Wouldn't it be much more stressful to be working the same number of hours and taking home drastically less??

No offence but this sounds a bit bonkers.

Don’t do it.

P.s. might help to pin down what exactly it is you find stressful about your current role, I.e. is it the people, hours, travel to work, responsibilities? Becoming a cleaner sounds like using a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

I'm an advocate (and adherent) of the less stress, less money route - but I'm not sure cleaning is the answer? It must be physically absolutely knackering.

I I definitely would not do this, housekeeping work is not reliable, in my experience they want everything done to Hilton standard I am unrealistic time using non existent materials, vacuum cleaners that don’t work and begrudge paying you. But other people could have far more positive experience. I would not do this , please find another alternative.

In my current job I work in customer services and the general public in the line of work I’m in can be deeply unpleasant and often are. The clients are relatively wealthy and I’ve been verbally abused and treated like their servant. The family who’ve offered the housekeeping role are known to me and are very nice people.

Get an HGV license and drive for a major retailer. The arseholes are in the rear view mirror, getting smaller.

Because you know them, would it be awkward when you wanted to hand in your notice?

I'm a cleaner and I love my job. However I think I've got around 5 years left in me so I'm retraining as an Environmental Health Officer. I'd say do it if you think long and hard about where you'll go from there because its not a career.

Monotonous that was meant to say. Monotonous, boring, repetitive, thankless ( mostly ).

I'm an NHS cleaner just now while deciding what to do with myself since finishing uni and while it's not a stressful or bad job, it's incredibly boring. I feel like I go in and run on autopilot until I can leave then switch my brain back on. I don't think I could do it long term for that reason.

However, I never come home feeling stressed so all my free time is completely my own which is nice. So, as with any job there's pros and cons.

I've worked in a horrible customer service job and also as a cleaner. I'd rather work in a horrible customer service job anyday. Being a cleaner was absolutely horrific, boring, draining and I'd literally have to force myself into work most evenings (and I only did 4 hours of an evening). It was shit.

No, cleaning 40 hr a week is really physically demanding and can take its toll after a few years.
I say look for something else that is closer to home.

The family who’ve offered the housekeeping role are known to me and are very nice people.

I would actually say this is a reason NOT to do it, based on a friend’s experience with going to work for a ‘very nice’ family that she was previously friendly with.

The family who’ve offered the housekeeping role are known to me and are very nice people.

You know them as friends/acquaintances? They might be different as employers.

Don't do it, my friend is a cleaner and she detests it now.
If you can afford to cut your hours then consider part time or look for a similar job but somewhere else

Can you cut down the hours of the job you have now, working less hours would give you a better work/life balance and give you a taste of if you can manage on less money. If you can manage, cleaning jobs are easy enough to find, so you can get one of those, but if you decide you would rather have time off than working lots of hours you haven’t lost anything. If you decide you value the money over everything obviously you’ve lost, only you can decide if it’s worth that risk.

That's going to be one hell of a paycut.

The grass is always greener...
Get a similar job somewhere closer to home and dealing with a different customer base rather than taking a cut in wage for an increase in physical activity/strain.
Most people (maybe just me) in a physically demanding job dream of a desk job.

My cleaner, who is great and diligent, is looking for a way out of cleaning. She is only 35 but finds that it is too physically taxing for the medium to long term.

I make it a policy not to work for friends or family. If the family are friends or family, be prepared for that relationship to change (often not for the better) if you become their cleaner.

I was a cleaner for a while - was doing it to tide me over until my business took off. I actually really enjoyed it and it was less stressful than my previous job. I did it for just under 2 years. However, it is physically exhausting and I got shoulder pain from bloody hoovering. I wouldn't want to have to clean for several years.
Also, some people are absolutely disgusting and the messes I had to clean up sometimes were indescribable.

Also, I worked as a cleaner for a while, and while it was non-stressful and you can think about other things and be on autopilot doing it - it was doing my wrists in.