How do I get myself out of this hole?

[EauDeChlorine]

Looking for advice ahead of meeting with office manager and MD.

Our company moved about a year ago. What used to be an easy local commute is now the journey from hell. Which makes that I had to give up some after work activities. A few weeks after we had moved I asked the office manager if I could start half an hour earlier and leave half an hour earlier as this would give me a head start of rush hour traffic. I was told now wasn’t a good time but maybe in a few months time. I decided to take matters in to my own hands and started job hunting. I’m currently waiting for the outcome of an interview at the end of June (civil service) and also doing a course as I don’t want to put all eggs in to one basket. I’m determined to leave this job and I think my employer has worked this out. The office manager has let slip that we will meet with the MD some time next week and that i will be offered reduced hours because they want to keep me. This is so the wrong timing for me. Ideally I would like to kick this in the long grass at least until after the outcome of the interview. Reduced hours would help but I think I would prefer to move on. How do I tackle this meeting? I don’t want to give too much away but on the other hand I don’t want too much changing around and then resign whenever the time comes. Thank you

Hmm. Well they're about to (by the sound of it) offer you what you asked for. What's the problem with that?!

Keep your powder dry. Let them offer you something that's more convenient for you, but carry on looking for another job if you think that's going to be more beneficial for you.

Do not, under any circumstances, tell them that you are looking for another job. There is no need for them to know that.

OP you don't have the civil service job yet, so I'd try to make your present role work.
Ask for compressed hours / work from home, or whatever it is that will make your life easier. This doesn't mean you are guaranteeing to stay for the rest of your day's.

Why can’t you take the reduced hours now and leave when you get a new job?

Just because they offer you the better hours doesn’t mean you’re tied in.

I’ve learnt from my last job to look out for yourself first as if it were reversed they would not be thinking of you.

Agee with the other posters - you currently do not have another job offer on the table so treat the meeting as if you will be staying where you are.

Don’t tell them that you have been having interviews and, if they suggest it, don’t ‘promise’ to stop looking for another job if they make this a condition

I’d just stick to the reasons you are unhappy and Agee something that will work better for you while you are with your current employer, however long that may be

I think that deep down i’m still a tad miffed that they never got back to me about my proposal to an earlier start and finish about a year ago. They agreed to let someone else change their hours but not myself or another colleague who asked. Still I feel bad for taking the reduced hours now and potentially handing in my notice soonish. If not for the civil service job then there will hopefully be something else. I chose to work local for a better quality of life. If I have to commute I may as well go back to working in London. Similar long commute but also an extra £10k per annum.

Compressed hours, working from home or earlier start and finish will certainly be rejected. My gut tells me they are trying to reduce staffing costs.

Thanks for the advise. Will see what they say and ask for some time to think about their proposals.

Your last comment hit the nail on the head: they aren't offering you the earlier start and finish you'd asked for, they're "offering" to cut your hours and therefore your pay. This is for their own benefit, and they're dressing it up as a favour to you in an attempt to cover the fact that they're essentially making part of your role redundant and leaving you financially worse off. They haven't even got the decency to be honest about it. In the circumstances I wouldn't feel any guilt at all about considering other options.

(Don't tell them this though! Some civil service jobs can take forever to come through even once you have an offer.)

That’s exactly it midgeland. Thank you