Work Life Balance

Julie_Smith

I current work for a company - decent salary but no promotional prospects. Great hours, a lot of flexibility and decent annual leave. Role is a 10 minute drive from my house with parking.

I've been offered a civil service position - pay cut of approx. €5K, longer hours, location in Dublin City Centre so approx. 2 hour daily commute, maybe more. Annual leave entitlement the same and while hours are longer fliexi-time is available. I'd be starting off on the bottom of the salary scale so pay will only increase over time and lots of promotional prospects.

Taking a position in the city has a lot of implications for my family. Children would have to go to a childminder which they are very unhappy about which also adds expense to take into account.

Really struggling to make a call on this.

Augme

What's the short/medium term job security situation in your current job? If I was you unless the current position outlook was a bit dodgy than I'd stay put.

I wouldn't be quite as optimistic about promotional prospects going forward either. They need to find a lot of money to cutback in spending and promotions will be the first one to go. People are basing a lot of promotions being available on the large number of potential retirements that are due to happen but I wouldn't surprised if it is largely a case of departments having to make do.

The commute and the need for a childminder would be the nail in the coffin for me. Have you calculated those costs on top of the pay drop? No guarantee of an office wth parking in the city centre either.

Having gone from a commute to working from home its only now I realise how much of my life I wasted commuting - all the time mine were growing up.

I agree with Augme too, an embargo on promotion is very likely and also paycuts down the road are not outside the realm of posibility.

If the job you have now fits your life, and is reasonably secure, I'd hesitate to jump ship right now. You can always reapply in a few years when the kids are in secondary?

I think you'd be mad, to be honest.

Esse85

Stay where you are.

OMM 0000

Julie_Smith wrote: »

decent salary

Julie_Smith wrote: »

Great hours

Julie_Smith wrote: »

a lot of flexibility

Julie_Smith wrote: »

decent annual leave

Julie_Smith wrote: »

10 minute drive from my house with parking

Absolutely no debate on this one.

Keep your current job.

I've been promoted many times and I regret it. If I could return to being an engineer I would take it in a second.

I know you've been told getting promoted is important, but it's not.

In fact, you're in the perfect situation.

Focus on what's important - your family and like - and enjoy your relaxed job.

jmlad2020

You shouldn't take advice from strangers on the internet but your arguments for leaving the current job for the new job aren't exactly convincing

A 2 hour commute sounds terrible, especially in a post covid world where remote working is the new normal. You risk jumping ship onto something you absolutely despise, and your good current job will have some new person, desperate for the position, who is now sitting on your old seat at work.

I don't know the facts but I'd be asking for a semi-remote working position, and a few other perks to suit you. You have nothing to lose. Promotions aren't everything in life.

beauf

You'd be crazy to move.

Julie_Smith wrote: »

..Annual leave entitlement the same and while hours are longer fliexi-time is available. I'd be starting off on the bottom of the salary scale so pay will only increase over time and lots of promotional prospects.
....

Everything happens much slower in the public sector. If you look what happened after the last crash the public sector I would not betting on rapid promotion or salary increases. It all could be frozen. You might also find the pension isnt that great as a late entrant.

experiMental

No promotional prospects? Then raise this issue with your manager, and figure out a plan to grow the company to create more promotional prospects.

Julie_Smith wrote: »

I current work for a company - decent salary but no promotional prospects. Great hours, a lot of flexibility and decent annual leave. Role is a 10 minute drive from my house with parking.

I've been offered a civil service position - pay cut of approx. €5K, longer hours, location in Dublin City Centre so approx. 2 hour daily commute, maybe more. Annual leave entitlement the same and while hours are longer fliexi-time is available. I'd be starting off on the bottom of the salary scale so pay will only increase over time and lots of promotional prospects.

Taking a position in the city has a lot of implications for my family. Children would have to go to a childminder which they are very unhappy about which also adds expense to take into account.

Really struggling to make a call on this.

Addle

Promotions aren’t guaranteed in the civil service. You could end up very frustrated if you take a job in the civil service expecting success in competitions.
If your current job is secure, I wouldn’t leave it if I was you.

2 hour commute each way? Even if only two hours, that's a lot more. Also, you'd want a lot of Promotions/incremental increases to pay for extra child care net of tax.

As above ask your current employer to see if there's extra responsibilities you can take on.

ThunbergsAreGo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

2 hour commute each way? Even if only two hours, that's a lot more. Also, you'd want a lot of Promotions/incremental increases to pay for extra child care net of tax.

As above ask your current employer to see if there's extra responsibilities you can take on.

This. There is no way I would be moving now based on what you have said.

Yet looking at the two I can't see why you would consider it at all so is there another underlying cause? What made you look in the first place

Esse85

2 hours a day commute, at least you said.
10 hours a week
40 hours a month

40 hours is a working week.

Unless you were doubling your salary immediately, I cannot emphasise enough how stressful and bad for your mental and physical health it is to take on that length of commute unnecessarily.

Julie_Smith

Thank you very much to each of you for your replies. I needed to hear some "outsider" opinions who don't know my story.

It's a bitter pill to swallow knowing that you are eager to progress in a company but there is nothing there for you now nor will there ever. I'm not very happy in my current position but I know how lucky I am to have such flexibility and no commute.

I think the commute is the killer here, I could deal with the pay cut in one sense but the impact this would have on my family is to much. I can't see the Dept. allowing working from home in this role - it might be an option if it was!

nthclare

Julie_Smith wrote: »

I current work for a company - decent salary but no promotional prospects. Great hours, a lot of flexibility and decent annual leave. Role is a 10 minute drive from my house with parking.

I've been offered a civil service position - pay cut of approx. €5K, longer hours, location in Dublin City Centre so approx. 2 hour daily commute, maybe more. Annual leave entitlement the same and while hours are longer fliexi-time is available. I'd be starting off on the bottom of the salary scale so pay will only increase over time and lots of promotional prospects.

Taking a position in the city has a lot of implications for my family. Children would have to go to a childminder which they are very unhappy about which also adds expense to take into account.

Really struggling to make a call on this.

I did that back in 2005 and I've no regrets, best decision I ever made.
I was on a lot more, but I needed the security because I was a single dad.
My sons nearly 20 now I'm way up the scale and am happy out.

A lot of bellends told me that I was mad, but the same people are telling me I made the right decision.

I was 29 when I made the decision I'm 45 now and not looking back with regret.

Listen to your gut,, money or security... I know what I'd do

Wishing you luck

ThunbergsAreGo

Julie_Smith wrote: »

Thank you very much to each of you for your replies. I needed to hear some "outsider" opinions who don't know my story.

It's a bitter pill to swallow knowing that you are eager to progress in a company but there is nothing there for you now nor will there ever. I'm not very happy in my current position but I know how lucky I am to have such flexibility and no commute.

I think the commute is the killer here, I could deal with the pay cut in one sense but the impact this would have on my family is to much. I can't see the Dept. allowing working from home in this role - it might be an option if it was!

That really good insight. It sounds like you have been beaten down in your current role and dont really see any prospects. Have you spoken to your manager/hr about these feelings?

And without being too nosey - are you remote working? I know having not had a holiday this year I can get into a work rut myself. Sometimes a small thing can manifest

Remember from a positive perspective, there are jobs out there and remote working is becoming more and more of a thing. Given you have been offered a role, its very likely you will be offered others

nthclare

nthclare wrote: »

I did that back in 2005 and I've no regrets, best decision I ever made.

Did you not miss out on the extra 2 hours at home per day and did you not mind being down a hefty amount initially with the extra child care costs/salary drop?

shesty

How old are your kids?Have done the commuting, it is dead time.Yeah you can listen to podcasts and all that, but that is no good if you are standing on a platform in November, seeing a train is delayed by 30 mins for the 3rd time in a week and frantically trying to raise someone to get your kids from the minder.It is a level of stress that I am well-glad to be free of in my life tbh.

The commute would be a clincher for me, but I know the feeling of being trapped in a job.I would suggest seeing could you negotiate a 4 day week or 2 days at home with a new job, but the public service can be notoriously finicky about that -you can get a lot of managers who just want bums on seats in an office, and make everybody's life hard as a result.

beauf

nthclare wrote: »

I did that back in 2005 and I've no regrets, best decision I ever made.
I was on a lot more, but I needed the security because I was a single dad.
My sons nearly 20 now I'm way up the scale and am happy out.

A lot of bellends told me that I was mad, but the same people are telling me I made the right decision.

I was 29 when I made the decision I'm 45 now and not looking back with regret.

Listen to your gut,, money or security... I know what I'd do

Wishing you luck

If the OP has said security was factor, even a primary one, I'd agree with you. But they didn't.

beauf

Julie_Smith wrote: »

....I'm not very happy in my current position but I know how lucky I am to have such flexibility and no commute.
...

I would say its probably time to move on. But perhaps to something with a better work/life balance.

nthclare

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Did you not miss out on the extra 2 hours at home per day and did you not mind being down a hefty amount initially with the extra child care costs/salary drop?

No I didn't mind at all, money doesn't really motivate me. I'm more interested in having a 9 to 5 and my daily commute was 2 hrs.
I'm not materialistic and my mortgage was manageable.

I live alone down a boreen in the Burren, myself and my son for years and then he moved back to his mums where he was older.
She wasn't well and had severe a

nthclare

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Did you not miss out on the extra 2 hours at home per day and did you not mind being down a hefty amount initially with the extra child care costs/salary drop?

No I didn't mind at all, money doesn't really motivate me. I'm more interested in having a 9 to 5 and my daily commute was 2 hrs.
I'm not materialistic and my mortgage was manageable.

I live alone down a boreen in the Burren, myself and my son for years and then he moved back to his mums where he was older.
She wasn't well and had severe anxiety, so I had him until she was well enough to look after herself and him.
It's was a mutual agreement.
She's married now, happy out with her man and my sons step dad is good to him.

So all in all it worked out OK.

Sometimes in life a man has to stand up and be responsible and helpful to his exe and son, even if they're not getting on the child is the most important.

Now I'm 45 and living the life of a single man and its awesome... Mortgage paid too.

Augme

Julie_Smith wrote: »

Thank you very much to each of you for your replies. I needed to hear some "outsider" opinions who don't know my story.

It's a bitter pill to swallow knowing that you are eager to progress in a company but there is nothing there for you now nor will there ever. I'm not very happy in my current position but I know how lucky I am to have such flexibility and no commute.

I think the commute is the killer here, I could deal with the pay cut in one sense but the impact this would have on my family is to much. I can't see the Dept. allowing working from home in this role - it might be an option if it was!

Have you considered doing a part time course in the evenings to further your prospects? Sounds like a new challenge is what you need and while a new job is the best way to bring that I don't think doing it by scraficing what you have at the moment is the best decision.

Get stuck into soemthing rewarding outside of work and it might make work seem like less of a chore.

Danny552

Julie_Smith wrote: »

Thank you very much to each of you for your replies. I needed to hear some "outsider" opinions who don't know my story.

It's a bitter pill to swallow knowing that you are eager to progress in a company but there is nothing there for you now nor will there ever. I'm not very happy in my current position but I know how lucky I am to have such flexibility and no commute.

I think the commute is the killer here, I could deal with the pay cut in one sense but the impact this would have on my family is to much. I can't see the Dept. allowing working from home in this role - it might be an option if it was!

What line of work are you in ? If your salary is good enough for you and only 10mins away from where you live I wouldn't move .

Pkiernan

Normally I'd heartily recommend a guaranteed job for life with annual non merit related pay rises and a gold plated defined benefit pension, but the commute and the childminder make it a real choice in this instance.

Glinda

A different perspective OP - the childminding is only a factor in the short term. It sounds like your current job is a bit of a dead end for you. The other one may well be worth a little short-term pain, if there are better promotion prospects and wider horizons in the longer term. Try to look a few years ahead, not just at the immediate financial considerations, if you're lucky enough to be in a position to do that.

Sometimes it's not about the job, it's about your career, and that lasts a very long time!

nthclare

nthclare wrote: »

Listen to your gut,, money or security... I know what I'd do

Wishing you luck

Its not just about money and security though. Its about the impact on the whole family, and the OP feels her children would not be happy having to go to a childminder, and a 2 hour commute each day is also significant.

OP, would you depend on driving or could you use public transport if required? I ask because parking is not always guaranteed. Depending on the location there can be little parking, or none, and it can be either on a first come/first served basis, or on a week on/week off basis.

Flexitime is considered a "privilege" not a right and you can be required to do set times on set days if business needs require it, usually within a rota with other staff members (e.g. public facing role).

You may not know the answer to some of these things until you are assigned to a location and a division, but best to consider the possibility when making up your mind.

The final decision is up to you - good luck.

Pkiernan

Pkiernan wrote: »

Normally I'd heartily recommend a guaranteed job for life with annual non merit related pay rises and a gold plated defined benefit pension, but the commute and the childminder make it a real choice in this instance.

Oh yeah. Thats another thing.

If you do decide to move, be prepared to have to listen to lots of very silly remarks about your work ethic, your job and your terms and conditions for the rest of your life.

AndrewJRenko

Pkiernan wrote: »

Normally I'd heartily recommend a guaranteed job for life with annual non merit related pay rises and a gold plated defined benefit pension.

If you find one, please do let us know. Because current public service recruitment definitely doesn't give you two out of three of these, and the other one is arguable too.

Pkiernan

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Oh yeah. Thats another thing.

If you do decide to move, be prepared to have to listen to lots of very silly remarks about your work ethic, your job and your terms and conditions for the rest of your life.

No mention of work ethic in my post.
I thought that pay increments are not based on annual performance assessments.

Julie_Smith

Just to clarify a couple of points -

Parking is not an option - I would have to use public transport. Most likely drive to a Luas stop and get the Luas. Dublin Bus may be an option but realistically that would take far longer.

I am aware that promotion is not guaranteed in any company, what I meant was there are promotional prospects in the new company. There are none and will be none in my current position. I am going no where my current role and while I'm desperately frustrated with that, putting my families needs is more important for me.

My gut it telling me stay where you are until your children are bigger. They will only be young once.

I appreciate the replies and have taken on board the answers and reasons for same.

AndrewJRenko

Pkiernan wrote: »

No mention of work ethic in my post.
I thought that pay increments are not based on annual performance assessments.

You just failed your posting performance assessment. No increment for you.

Pkiernan

Julie_Smith wrote: »

Just to clarify a couple of points -

Parking is not an option - I would have to use public transport. Most likely drive to a Luas stop and get the Luas. Dublin Bus may be an option but realistically that would take far longer.

I am aware that promotion is not guaranteed in any company, what I meant was there are promotional prospects in the new company. There are none and will be none in my current position. I am going no where my current role and while I'm desperately frustrated with that, putting my families needs is more important for me.

My gut it telling me stay where you are until your children are bigger. They will only be young once.

I appreciate the replies and have taken on board the answers and reasons for same.

I think your making the right call.

Normally, the overwhelming job security, pension, holiday and sick pay benefits would outweigh any other considerations, but your situation is a bit different.
Best of luck.

sbsquarepants

I'd stay put.

You like your job, it's paying the bills - what more do you want?

More money (possibly in time) but at what cost? Commuting, more stress, kids put out etc.

Plus you say you'd now need a childminder - they don't come cheap!

You are in effect adding maybe 25% to your working week, upsetting your kids and taking a hefty paycut for the privilege - are you mental??

AndrewJRenko

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

You just failed your posting performance assessment. No increment for you.

Dear AndrewJRenko,

I understand you've unilaterally failed PKiernan in their performance assessment. This is totally unacceptable.

Please review this unacceptable position or we will need to begin industrial action.

Yours sincerely
Chinese Whospers
Most Powerful Union in the Universe Rep

AndrewJRenko

Deleted User wrote: »

Dear AndrewJRenko,

I understand you've unilaterally failed PKiernan in their performance assessment. This is totally unacceptable.

Please review this unacceptable position or we will need to begin industrial action.

Yours sincerely
Chinese Whospers
Most Powerful Union in the Universe Rep

The 1970s called for you. They want their union back.

That kind of thing doesn't happen today.

Pkiernan

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

The 1970s called for you. They want their union back.

That kind of thing doesn't happen today.

How many public workers are in receipt of PUP?

AndrewJRenko

Pkiernan wrote: »

How many public workers are in receipt of PUP?

If you want me to do your research for you, we'll need to agree a good hourly rate.

Or if you have a point to make, perhaps you'd like to make it.

HartsHat

Pkiernan wrote: »

How many public workers are in receipt of PUP?

Why would we be on PUP? Has the public service stopped working?

Have the Gardaí stopped? Have Firemen? Have Doctors? Have Nurses? Physios? Have senior civil servants stopped implementing the Programme for Government? Is Air Traffic Control not working anymore? Has the Central Bank stopped regulated the financial services Sector? Have the Courts shut down?

Have all the soldiers and diplomats been brought back from the overseas postings?

Who do you think, for that matter, is processing the PUP payments?