To take voluntary redundancy @ £115k

[anon5mill]

Around £80k after tax. Or should I stay in current role with package of £140-150k + pension, healthcare. Current role is comfortable and suits lifestyle. Could be difficult to find another role with the same flexibility and money. Have niggling doubt about taking the redundancy. Have dependents, already own home, no debts. Likely to be made redundant within next 18 months if not now.

Yes, I think if I were to take it I would likely stay out of work until next tax year anyhow.

Surely anyone being paid this level of money is highly sought after and able to breeze into another job at the same pay scale?

Given that, take the money, take a month off, get a new job, £80k goes into savings. Surely?!

I work in a similar sector to you OP, similar earnings etc.
I originally though you should stick with your current role. On reflection, I would probably take the redundancy. Get your CV in order over the next few days. Start speaking to a few good HHs. You’re a women in tech, you’ll walk into something else. And stop with the self doubt, there’s no reason why you can’t find a new role with similar earning power or at least potential. Good luck; if you get a new role quickly, you’ll have a nice windfall towards the school fees!

Put as much as you can into your pension as that isn't taxable.

I’d take it, you’d be able to have some time off and decide what’s important to you in your next job etc.

Depends what you do in tech? Software engineer or business side eg product/project
management? Is it a job you can act as a contractor easily?

A lot of big tech is reducing headcount atm, I can understand your concerns about finding a similar role with that pay (let alone that flexibility).

I'd be tempted to stay out for now TBH, the market isnt great. I've just moved company but not achieved the salary increase I ideally wanted, it's definitely cooled since directly after covid.

Thanks for this. Current is 2 weeks pay per year of service capped at 20 years...is this norm? Would like to think worst case would be shift to 1 week but that may be naive.

Not yet but given the offer is already for 1 year salary I don't think it will improve.

The solicitor is more about the associated terms with the settlement. They may write into the terms that you can't get a role with any competitors within 12 months of leaving or something like that.

I’d take it.

Who wants to stay somewhere that is failing and have that on their CV? And presumably in 18 months there will be far more of you looking? If you go now you can get ahead.

Bank as much of the pay now whilst interest rates are high.

Thanks @anon5mill . I taking the summer off to reevaluate, luckily I have friend who lives locally who took the same offer, we've known each other for 17 years through work and are constantly in touch re ideas as to what to do. HE management, we are both minded to fully change sector, but it's been great to have someone to bounce ideas off in the pub, and remind each other of silly things we'd forgotten, like downloading payslips and p60s etc. Before they cut our access off. As we re both cricket fans, it's been a good month so far...

I wish you all the best whatever you decide to do. It was a really hard decision for me, I was hovering over the submit button for hours, but once done, and the working the next 7 months and seeing what it was going to look like, my decision became more validated every day. My partner stayed out of it bar letting me use him as a sounding board.

Also OP isn’t of an age to tie the money into a pension.

Take it, as the company declines the redundancy will reduce. Grab it, get your CV together and look. Take something contracting until you find the role you really want. Don't look back, just go for it

ALWAYS TAKE VOLUNTARY REDUNDANCY. It means you’ve already been marked for redundancy but it’s exponentially more generous than it will be when it’s mandatory. Also, when mandatory all your other colleagues will be jobhunting too. Polish your CV, take the offer and apply for jobs like mad.
(if you need more convincing work out what your statutory/contractual redundancy would be. It’s typically peanuts, 1/1.5 weeks per year of service.)

I'm 46, so not able to tie it in to that extent, and uss is a pretty good one if you have some final salary which I do.

Basically I was scared to make a decision, which is where I guess you are, but I'm sleeping better, and even after I'd submitted but was still working, people were saying how much better I was looking. Which was scary, but as said, validating.

Tech sector is brutal at the moment, particularly senior. Lots of candidates floating around due to the bulk redundancies that happened over the last 9 months or so, not many companies willing to hire, very limited VC funding limiting growth. If I were you I might want to stay in role while looking hard for other opportunities, and see if it gets easier later. At the same time, if the job is stifling, a nice break might be a good thing, as long as it’s not negative for your long term prospects.

I would probably take it - that’s a very enhanced package and if the business is declining they may not be in the position to offer the same package in 18 months.

Also number of years service is capped at 20 years and weekly pay capped around £635. So statutory max is less than £20k

If the business is in decline it seems like more of a risk staying as the payout in 18 months will probably be lower. But if you're not bothered by that I would stay as long as possible for the work/life balance.

@anon5mill
Not sure what years service was capped at but i dont know anyone who has been here more than 10 except 1 guy who was like... literally the 1st uk employee.. (he is married to a 90s/00s pop star. If you know who that is, you who i work for 🤣)

The May enhanced package was 16 weeks, plus 2 weeks for every year, unused PTO & then on top, for those on maternity leave or due to go on maternity leave got an extra 8 weeks

This was before rep negotiations but the reps didnt get all that much.
I am given to understand our Nov layoffs were more generous.
Very few people i know would qualify for a year... like i said its a solid offer. I'd be looking at finding decent headhunters and moving laterally into an adjacent sector.NOTE: i know people who took the layoff - got the package and then have been rehired by my company WITH sign on bonus into different depts... lucky bastards. Also shocking levels of stupidy and inefficiency from the top.

Thank you for your advice, I read the thread out of curiosity, it is interesting to find out about different lifestyles. I have been made redundant a couple of times as have a few friends and we were all lucky to get the bare minimum it is like a peek into another world to read these things. I will pop over to the other section that you have recommended, I am sure it will benefit me to mix with the other strugglers! I really appreciate you taking the time to point me in the right direction. Best wishes x

Sorry if someone else has mad this point already but: my friend works for the NHS and they are making various people redundant. She was told that if she accepts the (pretty generous) voluntary package, one of the terms is that she can’t take another NHS role for 6 months. Makes no sense to me, but that’s what she’s been told 🤷‍♀️

Having seen quite a few redundancies going wrong I would consider the offer and would take it now , specially if lots of people are being made redundant. Second offers tend to be considerably worse .
However you fail to tell us your age , if you have a mortgage , if you could maybe invest part of that money and maybe not need to work as much or retire early .

No I wouldn’t take it. They say it takes about a month for each £10k you earn to find a new job. So 12-15 months in your case. The money isn’t life changing, because you need to live off it. You would also be missing out on pension contributions, benefits like healthcare cash plans or insurance, sick leave, annual leave.

2 years salary I would consider it, have you tried negotiating?

With the current offer, I’d choose to stay in the job and start seriously looking for another role that meet your terms. It is easier to find a job whilst you’re in one, emotionally much easier. You will feel confident to refuse roles and company cultures that don’t feel right.

Do some research into looking for your next senior role after redundancy, there’s lots of guides and books and see if that’s a journey you want to start right now.

Definitely don’t take the redundancy and then see it as time off and relax before starting to look for your next role. Find your next role and negotiate a delayed start of 6 months if that’s what you want and you can request sabbaticals when you’re in a more confident and stable position job wise.

Wishing you all the best.