Taking a pay cut

bogmanfan

Hi there. My girlfriend just took voluntary redundancy from her old job. She has been offered 2 jobs with different companies. One of them will match her old salary (€60k) but will involve working nights (2pm-10pm). Also, the work would be quite boring. The other job would be much more interesting, and she would be more suited to it. The hours would be 9 to 5. The catch? The salary is only €40k. They have said they can't budge with that. So she has a problem. If she takes the better-paid job, we will hardly see each other (I work mornings - start at 7.00, finish at 3.00pm). But 20k is a big pay cut:eek: The only thing is, for the past 2 years she has been repaying some fairly hefty loans which are now cleared, so although she was earning great money, she was living on a small amount. Therefore, she won't really miss the 20k, if you know what I mean. Anyone here got any experience of taking a big pay cut to get a job you really like?

cold_filter

Is there a possibility of the job hours changing with the 60k job?

My friends dad was in a similar position got made a redundant and got a hefty payout, The work he does is quite specialised i thinks theres 5 people in the country that do it. Anyway he applied for a job with "noname company" and was told he would be supporting the US where previously he had done europe so he would usually work 8-5. He asked could he do this they said yes but you need to take a 30k pay cut. So he stuck with it and 2 weeks later the guy who was on the day shift moved to oz and he moved to days

Tom Dunne

It's a tough one, but for me it boils down to quality of life.

A loooooong while back I worked shift. Excellent money, but I had no life. I had to make the choice between money and lifestyle, the latter winning out and I am all the better for it. I don't regret it for a minute.

fatboypee

For wot it's worth, I took a pay-cut of 8k to take a job I thought I liked / was going places etc etc etc...

Nearly financially killed me and it took 2 years to get back to where I was before I started the job ....

Regardless of outgoings / debts, its about wot you're worth at the end of the day ... going in every day and feeling underpaid = major pain in the nuts and is ultimately unsustainable...

Also, if the two jobs are out there, maybe there's a 3rd that is better all-round ?

FBP.

bogmanfan

Thanks for the replies guys. Unfortunately the hours with the 60k job are fixed. Company only operates within those hours. I'm thinking myself that she should take the 60k job and if the hours are too difficult or if the job isn't creative enough, she can simply leave. She should have no problem getting a 40k position again.

pwd

I'd take the pay cut personally.
I worked nights for a summer and it's crep basically. You don't have a proper life.

Nody

You're talking 11.6k (42% tax) so around 1k a month. Is the hours really worth that much considering she'll be out synched and tired on the weekends etc. as well?

Personally I would look more at advancement possibilities in the positions then the salary (and I'm taking a paycut accordingly with my new job as well but the possibilities to advance and the training provided makes it worth it).