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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To turn down a 3x salary job?

409 replies

Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 11:33

I'm really really torn. Earlier in the year I got offered a job that pays £60k. I couldn't take it as it required relocation. They just got back to me to say they're happy to offer same role, different location but within commuting distance (1 hour drive). My current job pays £21k. I love what I'm building with it but I seriously doubt it will ever get beyond £30k. So it's between loving my company/job and the £££s. I'm absolutely torn.

OP posts:
LilyLongJohn · 04/12/2020 17:30

It depends on responsibility and expectations. A 60k a year job is unlikely to be 9 to 5 with work free weekends. With decent money comes responsibly (isn't that from Spider-Man Grin).

I went from 50k to 70k a few years ago, I was used to having to be flexible and work when the job required it, sometimes out of hours or weekends, but that extra jump was a big one and I ended up hardly seeing my family and being stressed to fuck. I did it for a while then I was talking to my old boss one day and she they were hiring for my old job again. It was a no brained for me and I binned the 70k job and have never been happier and more grateful to be back earning 55k

Fingers crossed for you op.

thenovice · 04/12/2020 17:32

If I was considering taking the job, I would tell my boss I had been offered it and what the salary was, and see if the company wanted to keep me enough to offer a me pay rise - not to match, but to improve on what I was getting.

Shell4429 · 04/12/2020 17:36

As an older, wiser person I am of the opinion that money isn’t the main consideration in a career. You need to like the job first and foremost. Ask yourself are you happy in your current role? And could you be happy in the new one? Believe me, no amount of money can compensate for being miserable in your job. Imagine sitting on your new fancy sofa in your new fancy house but dreading work the next morning.

monkeyoven · 04/12/2020 17:39

Really depends on how much your family needs the money. But balanced against that is a job that will make you unhappy probably isn’t right for your family either.

Angiemum24 · 04/12/2020 17:44

Go for it!

whittingtonmum · 04/12/2020 17:45

@HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee

In a first world capitalist economy all companies are unethical to a greater or lesser extent. The pursuit of profits and margins and market mean there are all sorts practices going on No one is squeaky clean It’s lazy and stereotypically outraged middle class to bemoan Amazon, announcing how you don’t support them,never buy from them blah blah

Amazon employ a lot of people,offer a Flexibility previously unavailable and have distribution centres in areas that need the jobs

By all means chi’s echinacea you shop with
But do not apply lazy cliches to virtue signal how ethical you are

Not lazy at all. There are companies that pay their taxes, try and treat their lowest paid staff fairly and build a decent corporate culture. It's lazy to lump them all together as just as bad as each other. It's simply not true. Several successful business people I know are actually outraged with what Amazon gets away with.
Spaceshiphaslanded · 04/12/2020 17:45

@Shell4429 is right. If you are also thinking now you maybe don’t really want it - it isn’t right. You THRIVE in your career when you are really happy. You’ve done the right thing. Money isn’t everything - as hard as that is to swallow - it’s isn’t. Good luck 🍀

Elfblossom · 04/12/2020 17:51

If 21k is enough for you to live how you'd like to then follow your heart in whichever direction it takes you.

I'm saddened to see so many materialistic money vultures here!

If you LOVE your job (whichever it is) you'll never work a day in your life.

Granville1 · 04/12/2020 17:53

Definitely take it. Are you mad?! An hour commute is fairly standard if say! I've never ever had less than 45 mins

Scotland32 · 04/12/2020 17:54

Be courageous! Give it a go. Better to regret the things you do, than the things you don’t. I was offered a place at Cambridge University. Turned it down. I love my current life (went to a different uni, enjoyed it, like my job, have a lovely family etc) but nevertheless I regret that decision.

Mummy012 · 04/12/2020 17:57

I took a job once because the money was attractive. I hated it and left after 6 months. It completely depends on your circumstances and went back to what I love. I know my current role has no prospects for advancement and I am top of my salary scale with a public sector pay freeze coming. However I am happy at work, get a lot of satisfaction and good work/life balance. It depends on your individual circumstances. Good luck

Yogalola · 04/12/2020 17:59

Sounds like a great opportunity, hopefully the new job offers prospects for further promotion. Go for it and don’t look back. I’ve found in the past do what you feel is good for you , loyalty shouldn’t come into it as companies tend not to have loyalty towards their own employees (or st least that’s my experience). Congratulations and enjoy your new job

MeeshW · 04/12/2020 18:00

I would take it in a heartbeat!

helsteeth · 04/12/2020 18:00

Going against the majority of posts here, just with a note of caution, to think very carefully before you go for it. Just to offer a different view point £60K is a lot of money and yes that is wonderful, BUT money isn't everything. I don't know about whether you have children or other responsibilities, and I don't know about the demands on you in your current role. But I do know that for £60K your new employer will have high expectations. I'm speaking from the voice of experience as someone who took a job with similar pay and commute. I loved having more money, I can't deny it, it was the driver for taking the new role, and yes, it does make a difference. However, the company I worked for (not amazon) wanted to own me and my time, they weren't good employers and I was ultimately very unhappy. It's all well and good being able to afford 3 holidays a year but when you don't see your family, your weekends are spent decompressing and you need those holidays just to shut down and be yourself again, it really isn't worth the ££££. In the end I left for a lower paid role which was much closer to home and ultimately am far happier for it! Good luck with your choice, whatever that might be.

LoverOfAllThingsPurple · 04/12/2020 18:02

Suck it up n take the pay rise, are you mad????

FelicisNox · 04/12/2020 18:07

Take the job! They clearly really want you so go for it!

If you hate it, just use it as a stepping stone to other things. This could be a once in a lifetime offer/role and you will only ever regret the risks you didn't take.

YOLO.

DoveOfPiss · 04/12/2020 18:10

Do what your heart tells you. There's more to life than money. I dropped from £30k to £19k several years ago because I hated my job and went to one which gave me 100% job satisfaction. I was so much happier, less stressed and it's served me well over the years as I have been able to tell prospective employers that I do value job satisfaction over pay.

Kazar99 · 04/12/2020 18:15

The other thing I would mention as on my quick scan of comments I couldn't see if anyone had already said is that once you start earning over £50k then you lose a proportion of child benefit and if you earn £60k or over then you have to pay all your child benefit back to the taxman. So the chunk of salary from £50k to £60k might not get you very much extra take home income by the time you pay 40% tax, 2% NI and then lose all your child benefit.

Avondklok · 04/12/2020 18:29

Brilliant that you have had some success with your current company. Skim reading all the posts it sounds like you love your current industry. Money helps a lot but to move to working nights for quite a cutthroat employer sounds like stress on legs to me. Plus the commute. If you can get some commitment and planning from your current employer, then that's win win.

Oscarsdaddy · 04/12/2020 18:36

Many thousand of people would be currently happy to accept your current salary so it’s a no brainer, do it

BeanieB2020 · 04/12/2020 18:39

You will never regret taking this job. Life is so much better on a decent salary like that and it will help you so much with your career. Go for it!

sabbii · 04/12/2020 18:44

as a matter if interest why would you even apply if the location was not right? I get approached all the time to apply for loads of roles but if its not in the right place then yes I usually say would need a lot money to tempt me to relocate. I have not read the entire thread yet

bemusedmoose · 04/12/2020 18:49

I had an hr commute for a £25k job! I'd snap that job up if I were you - they were impressed enough to come back to after this long... No saying you won't love the new job just as much (you obviously were interested enough to apply before...) with the bonus of extra cash!

chaosmaker · 04/12/2020 18:52

It is so very hard to find a job and people to work with that you genuinely love. Saying that I've never been particularly motivated by money but have had jobs that I had to quit because they'd got to the point where I literally couldn't get out of bed to go them as they'd become mental torture.

Also the grass always looks greener but may be brown and parched when you get there :D

If it's not just a money thing though, go for it!

Callingallskeletons · 04/12/2020 18:54

I would absolutely take the job, just think of the financial security that kind of move can offer you and your future
I understand the loyalty to your current job/company but realistically if they will never be able to offer you this kind of opportunity I think you’d be mad to turn it down