Would you turn down a £38k job offer to stay on £32k closer to home? Just did the maths on my commute...

[AlexCarter88]

I'm really torn at the moment and could use a sanity check. I've been offered a new role paying £38,000, which initially sounded like a great step up from my current £32,000 job. The catch is that the new office is a 50-minute commute each way by train, whereas my current workplace is only 15 minutes from home.

I sat down this morning to work out how much better off I'd actually be each month. Once tax and National Insurance take their chunk out of the extra £6k, and I subtract the monthly rail season ticket and extra travel costs, the £38k job literally leaves me with about £45 a month more in my pocket — in exchange for losing nearly 40 hours a month sitting on a train.

I actually ran both postcodes through the take-home pay and commute calculator on jobbri.co.uk just to double-check I wasn't going mad, and seeing the net monthly pay next to the door-to-door travel time really put me off accepting it. I'm now leaning towards turning it down and just looking for direct local employers closer to home.

Am I being silly turning down a higher salary on paper for the sake of a short commute, or would you stay put on £32k?

Possibly a good idea to negotiate rather than just turning it down? Is your work amenable to remote working and would extra days at home change the balance?

I wouldn't waste another second giving it any consideration at all. It's in no way worth it.

Agreed but it would have to be a very good stepping stone.

Any chance of negotiating a better salary for the new job?

For me it would be more than the money, but also career prospects. Does your current company offer much in terms of promotional opportunities? Do they know you’re ambitious and looking at new roles and would they try and keep you and offer you more - job and money wise?

A 50min train ride isn’t that bad if you love the role, you can use the time constructively - I did it for years, but depends upon other family commitments too.

I see you've already decided to decline but for future jobs you may consider, it's not just the salary. I'd also consider any other benefits, the stability of the company, opportunities for progression/promotion/pay rises, whether it would be a good jump if I'm looking to move up the ladder etc.

..

Theoretically 50 minutes train journey. Not if many of the train operators given levels of lateness.

£1000 a month more take home after tax and travel then that would make sense. All that more hours travelling and for £45 no way! £450 I still would be on the fence about that per month

This.
Plus better pension contributions.
I think a 50 min commute is reasonable - I'd read
If it provides a career progression and stepping stone to promotion and 45k in 2/3 years - yes.

Also, I've been sent CV's recently for people who have been doing admin roles for the last 10 years, on £32-£35k. They want the next step and myvquestion to recruiters is always 'if they are aby good, why haven't they moved on/been promoted?

They want the next step and myvquestion to recruiters is always 'if they are aby good, why haven't they moved on/been promoted?
You really can’t think why this would be the case?
Many companies have a structure that means there really isn’t a promotion trajectory, certainly in admin first of all.
It’s hardly uncommon for people to stick to a comfortable salary that works for their family life. Many women particularly are trapped in a role for 10 years if they plan to take maternity leaves.
It’s hardly as unusual or damaging as you’re making it out.

Of course I can think but they aren't always women, they aren't always mothers.

I stayed in a job for exactly those reasons. I did my prof quals.

How would you know whether a person was a parent or had commitments outside work that meant they stayed in the same position only based on their cv though?
You wouldn’t and yet you seem to be suggesting it means they couldn’t be good at their job or they would have moved or been on a higher salary, from your own wording.

Exactly. Hundreds of reasons why. Job security, life events and all sorts.

I had the same job title for 8 years but my salary went up by 40% and I got so much experience and changed the whole job description.

Tough to think someone is reading my CV and thinking, why haven’t they moved on?

I didn’t need to and technically there was nowhere for me to go. I got rewarded still and gained so much experience.

Definitely not. And good for you bothering to work out what the real costs would be. The only reasons for agreeing would be:

if it is a crucial step up in a career that would continue to earn higher salaries. (i.e. if in two year's time, you could leap from that to £50k and then again to £70k a few years later.)

Or

if you would be happy to move closer, and this move would suit your family too, so you could all benefit from the increased earnings. But moving house costs such a lot that it could be years before you'd recoup it.