I probably have to take this job, don’t I?

[AgualusasLover]

This is, I know a very first world problem and I am very fortunate to be in this position.

The job came via an acquaintance from a previous role - lots of people in common in the sector, they are the most senior person in the company.

I have a job:

• I love
• the people I work with are amazing and supportive
• I have been pretty successful here
• about 1,000 people
• flexible working
• very very easy commute
• learning is super important to me, this company is huge and can take me all sorts of places but my own role can grow to
• extremely comprehensive healthcare
• 10% employer contribution to pension
• subsidised meals and lots and lots of social and fun which I enjoy

New job

• 5 people
• the main person I’ve worked with indirectly before and really like them
• start up (but financially well backed) so my role will be broader than usual, but also opportunity to learn because I will be the only person doing my type of work
• just over £10k salary uplift
• bonus similar but discretionary (I don’t know what the discretion is but assume them meeting targets -+ KPIs of some sort)
• healthcare - unsure how comprehensive
• pension is statutory
• mostly office based, except Fridays and if most of the others are travelling (which will happen reasonably frequently
• commute not that different, in as much as when i get off the bus i will have to walk 15-20 mins instead of 90 seconds

My current employer know about new job. I have a very content, but sometimes tricky personal life and get a lot of validation and self worth from my job, and I am worried I might end up with a content job too.

Financially, I’ve had a difficult few months. I panicked and had a conversation that has led to this. I can manage in current job now that bonus has been paid and I’ve caught up with myself.

I just genuinely love my job. My current bosses have put forward a case to stay but also understand why I might need to go and they have said it will be a huge loss (of course I am replaceable though). They are willing to help me grow and support me in any way at all that I wish. Whilst they prob cannot give me a large pay increase to match, they intimated they could speak to our global team and make a case for me to be moved to the top of my band as I am a top performer, that is £5k.

I am just struggling to get past how much I love my job, colleagues and actually the company (sad, I know).

Would that £800 a month be worth losing the pension contributions for? Would it perhaps even be less than you get now in pension contributions? What value the healthcare? Flexibility? What are the commuting costs? How much do you value your work-life balance?
I left a job I loved once to follow the money. Realised it was a massive mistake and left before the end of probation. Learned a valuable lesson!

No way would I move job because I feel socially obliged - just because someone offers doesn’t mean you have to say yes

Agree with others unless the 10K is life changing for you based on your current role that would rule it out also

@AgualusasLover stay put. You seem to love where you are/they have really supported you/like you. That counts for a lot. Plus this climate is tough and I have several friends who have been out of work for a year despite riding the waves of success before.

Slightly differently, I also followed the money when I was younger. Two almost identical jobs yet one then offered me an extra lump sum to join. My gut felt something wasn't right about the line manager but it was money and i was young! Months later, sitting on a bench crying after being screamed at yet again by her, that lump sum wasn't worth anything versus my mental health. So I'd always advise my kids/others to go where you feel happiest/best feeling about. @AgualusasLover you know deep down what you want to do

I wouldn't move jobs for 5k if you are happy there. Get the 5k pay uplift and stay.

@AgualusasLover

I think because I sort of know the person hiring from a previous role I feel sort of obliged, which I know is silly.

Would that person feel obliged to carry on paying you if the company closed?

From your lists the benefits you lose will eat up some of the extra money.
And then your happiness professional development pension....
I would stay

Stay put. A job that you love is worth a lot more than a 10k boost to income.

I am in a similar boat with what I like about my current job. I have looked hard at other jobs, with similar trade offs. I earn around 100K currently and came to the conclusion I'd need at least 150K to consider giving up all the benefits. I am not in a tough spot financially but I would not give all that up for 10K unless I was really really screwed financially.

Stay put

Stay where you are. Travelling and commuting will eat until your salary and time. You have a company you love, so why risk it?

Read your post back OP. The answer is there staring you in the face.

Stay.

I would not leave a job I love, with all of those positive attributes, for an extra £10k per year. Once you’ve covered commuting costs & effort you’ll be worse off than you are currently.

Plus you’re saying things such as healthcare aren’t matched, pension is only statutory. You need to calculate the value of your total rewards in current and future role and I think you’ll be surprised. Your job offer is gonna come out about the same as your current role, or worse.

Also consider the number of contracted hours in both. If your current job is 35 hrs & the other is 37.5, you’ll need to pro-rate the new salary to see if it’s a true £10k uplift.

Finally, with your current employer you cannot do this again. They will lose all respect for you if you dither about leaving regularly. You kinda get one shot at the threat of leaving in my experience. After that it just sounds like empty threats.

Are you sure it’s £800 more a month? That sounds like a gross figure. Look on take home pay calculator uk and put in your pension contribution too. Obviously I don’t know your salary but I’d expect £10k a year pay rise to only give you around £500 more a month. And echoing everyone else I’d stay put. Don’t feel obligated to accept role to be polite. A small start up is a huge risk

You don't have to take a new job just to avoid possibly annoying someone you know. Of course they want you to come and work for them - you're clearly good at what you do. But that doesn't mean you have to do it.

In order to try and avoid burning bridges, the most I think you need to do is try to find a polite way to tell them you've changed your mind about the new job - or about leaving the old one - and they can look for someone else to do the job in the new company. Which they'd have had to do if they didn't know you anyway, so it's not a huge deal. You're creating a minor inconvenience for them and they'll probably be disappointed because they like you and think you'll be good for the job. But that's not enough of a reason for you to leave a job you really like and with the benefits you outlined in your OP. And turning this down now doesn't mean necessarily closing that door for ever, either, if you realise in a couple of years you're ready to move now. (If they blacklist you over this, you wouldn't want to work with them anyway!)

Good luck with your decision, but it looks to me like you've decided which job you like best. I'd stick with that. They will get over their disappointment and annoyance at having to recruit a new person who might not be as good as you very quickly - if you move just to be polite when you don't really want to, I think the impact on you will be far longer lasting.

I would stay put.

Why do you need to take the new job? The first bit is most important, you live your current job and are learning in it

I’d push for the £5k increase in your current role and stay.

I wouldn't move jobs to a start up

I'd stay put too. Pension is much better, 10k nice but not huge, 15 mins walk in the rain/snow etc isn't ideal, what if the company collapses, what if younger there and you hate it - you'd have lost what you've got now in a job you love

It’s not £800

even as a basic rate tax payer moving from 40-50k it’s £630 a month.

assuming 50k you would then need to top your pension up from 3% to 10% so 8500 over 12 months £708 (haven’t done this pre tax but won’t equal the difference)

you are therefore worse off!!!

Dont move, the change in pension and commute wipes out any benefit.

I wouldn't even consider leaving.

Is the pay rise £10k gross? If so it can’t possibly be £800 a month net increase.

moving from 10% to 3% pension contribution a year is very significant, at £40k salary, it will wipe out a lot of that £5k gap.

there’s no way I’d move from a stable job with excellent prospects training and benefits to a start up for £5k gross which with pension contribution difference could be £2.5k gross per year - on basic rate salary that’s about £160 per month which you could easily lose in

• extra commute costs for office based
• lunch costs
• instability and the cost of having to find a new job / be unemployed when the start up goes tits up / you realise one of the 5 people you work with is a psychopath you can’t escape and there’s no effective HR in such a small company
• therapy ref the tits up above

This this this!! The start up I work for has just been bought out by a bigger company and it's barely the same now. Everyone is at each others throats with all the changes. I'm stuck as it's the only part time job I can find in my field at my level of experience. If you've got something good (which you do op), I'd definitely say to stay and not join the start up

I would stay where you are. The fact that you feel safe in your current job is huge for me.