To think I can get an enjoyable wfh job that pays 100k without working evenings and weekends?

[2kidsnewstart]

I am currently a civil servant earning 80k pro rata'd to my 4 day a week part-time hours. Lots of benefits (pension etc) but due to the kind of role I am in I am expected to return to the office more.

That is difficult for me as last year me and the kids' dad split up (6dd and 2dd) meaning I can't afford additional £65 daily train fares to London on top of nursery fees plus all the other bills. We are 50:50 which I have realised is a very expensive way of splitting up!

Plus I leave before 7am and get home around 8pm so would have to find someone to look after the kids on my days in the office (my ex and I coparent very well but he can't always do childcare around my work all the time and we have no family nearby).

The civil service is great but I am 38 and feel like I could have a whole other career ahead of me and I wonder if there's an absolutely dreamy role that would be challenging but satisfying, well-paid, allow me to wfh and not require evenings and weekends?

AIBNU: No there's definitely that kind of role out there if you open your eyes/ retrain! (and please specify what kind of role!)

AIBU: That unicorn does not exist you should stay where you are!

What allowance do you get in the CS for having small kids? Having kids is not a disability? Is this an actual thing?

Medical coding is also used in clinical trials in the UK.

Of course it can....they are just a minority and I doubt anyone in one of those roles is asking the question OP is asking.

Did you WFH full time?

I was in house legal and on 6 figures but full time and long hours. Those somewhat more junior were on your sort of money though, without so many of the extra hours.
Edited to add key point: I was 100% WFH!

I'm going to second what some others have said more recently: stay where you are. Explore options to compress your hours so that you work two long days in the office when your children are with their other parent. Or see if you can leave before peak time travel.

My daily travel into the office is about £50 a day and it's brutal - I understand!

You mentioned your child has health issues - have you looked at DLA? It could add to your income stream.

You could also work on your qualifications but think of it as a 5-year plan. You will still only be 43, but you need to hold onto your current earning capacity.

It will get easier! Hang in there!

The little I know about lab jobs in pharma is that they tend to be lower paid relative to my role. However, CMC regulatory affairs is potentially an area your friend could consider and is desk-based. In my company, they are always struggling to recruit these staff. Or take a look at other roles advertised such as manufacturing. The big multi-nationals pay relatively well with good benefits.

@VestaTilley ha I will! I know my current set up is great and I'm lucky. Just wondered if I could get some more cash to better manage the financial impact of us splitting up.

@Fanlover1122 in my experience the culture is more accommodating of having a child ie my big boss used to leave early, at 5pm, once a week to collect his child which I suspect would be frowned upon elsewhere. And my own issues dealing with a routinely sick kid has been met with compassion.

My brother has worked in cyber security for about 5 years - he’s only ever WFH, currently earns around £200k a year. Only downside is he has to travel to the US every couple of months.

my partner earns similar at a similar age and wfh 9am-6pm ish if you include bonus.

never ever works on weekends - occasionally works late to finish something, occasionally late start or early finish for family appointment.

private company, he’d have to drop 20% to work for gov. occasional travel to other offices.

unsurprisingly it’s in computers

Only Fans? No DP to stop you now.

Absolutely possible in tech. But I don't know what a stretch that would be from current role.

But let's face it - those at the top of their game in Governance etc have years of experience and industry expertise behind them

I also really object to @Mnk711 suggestion of AI and Accountancy. All Most are already using AI, encouraging it, but it won't replace accountants, so that's just scaremongering drivel.

Have you considered going full time in your current role? Might be worth running the figures if you are splitting childcare costs with your ex.

There are clinical coders in the NHS.

Like pp's have said, to earn in the same bracket as what you're on now, you need to be looking within your skills remit, what do you already have that could be transferred either within your sector but private, or to another sector. If you start a whole new career it will take you years to be on what you're on now.
Does your current role lend itself to consulting? I'm in public sector marketing and looking within the next 5-10 years to move into marketing consulting on a freelance basis.

How much difference will things like the free breakfasts make, assuming Labour wins? At our school, breakfast club is £6 per child per day. That adds up. And when your 2yo turns 3, there is a small lessening of nursery fees.

This sounds great - could you share some more details? I have a STEM background and currently in academia but am looking at industry for the security. My fixed term contract is up in a couple of months and I hate the uncertainty of it.

I assumed pharma would involve being in the lab / driving around to various sites selling products. I didn’t realise there would be WFH roles!

Pharma has a lot of WFH opportunities so might be worth investigating. Although it's hard to give any meaningful advice without knowing your experience.

Don't under estimate the value of your CS pension though. Times might be hard right now but lots in the private sector won't have anywhere near what you've put away.

Presumably the upcoming political changes might remove some of the pressure to be in the office?

How are you splitting the week/ childcare costs with your ex? It would probably be best for you if you always have fixed days, so you always know that he sorts the childcare for a fixed two days a week then you can work some of your office days on those days at least, even do some long days then if it will count towards your office %.

So for example you always have them Sun pm, Monday and Tuesday pm, he then picks them up from school/childcare Wed pm and has them/sorts childcare all day Thursday and Friday. Then they can alternate Saturdays. Or similar. It also means that clubs for example always fall on your day or his day so if you want them to do swimming for example you know you always take them on a Monday evening and you never need to rely on him to ferry them for activities which are important to you.

I earn over 200k and wfh.

I am always on call and at work. Emails are sent from all kinds of time zones that require almost instant responses.

I am very jealous of these people who can earn this good money without the extreme effort.

i went local government to contacting to consultancy to private firm took about six years

@Clarinetiu would you not be happier working in a less stressful job but earning half that amount?

Surely this is a highly specialised, highly skilled role?

I can't see how the OP (or anyone) could just zip from civil service to cyber security.

It does exist because of the internal market in the NHS but medical coders are only Band 5 so earn around 25-30k unless they go freelance.

Following as ìn a similarish position but with fewer small child restrictions.