Would you take a lesser paying job?

[rcpratt]

I can't imagine myself doing that in my current situation, but of course I can imagine situations where one would take a significant pay cut.

 

[Retro Rob]

I can't afford to with the amount of student Loans. I took a paycut coming from my first job already. Only to find out that its more stressfull, more work, and more on call. Gotten two raises but with the new taxes going up I'm still making less than when I started. Can't say I'm happy.

Eventually it gets to a point where I get burned out and start using vacation days to relax or I start coding side projects at home that I think are fun instead of the work I do at the job.

Man, this is why I dropped out of college about 6 years ago. The loans were piling up on me (roughly about 10-12 GR/yr) and I didn't want to find myself working my rear off just to pay that off.

We've made cuts in our spending (basic cable, moved to a one-bedroom apartment since we don't have children) so that I can afford to take a lesser paying job if need be.

I'm still paying off my car, but that's a necessary expense, so I am not to worried about that.

 

[Zstream]

I quit a really easy job to take a much more difficult one to get some new experience and the challenge. I probably get about 10% more now but its been a year and a half so I probably could have gotten that at the previous place.

I did learn a lot but am really burned out now so im not super sure it was the right move but you never know. I guess if I thought it might make my life better I'd take less like you are considering. Its sometimes worth a try if you aren't really enjoying your life and the opportunity to try a change is there at all

Same exact thing here.

 

[Broheim]

work to live, not the other way around. All the money in the world wont make you happier if you spend all your time stressed out at work.

 

[TXHokie]

Done it three times in my career, never regretted any of those decisions.
1. Took a 10% hit to get away from Hitler boss, that was easy.
2. Took a 20% hit to trade a 1 hour/40 mi each way commute for a 15 min/9 mi commute. It was also a lesser job position and a small step back career wise but I gained more time with my kids and don't get as cranky when I'm home from not having to deal with the brutal Dallas traffic. It was a good trade overall.
3. Lateral salary jump from job #2 above when the company got bought out and I got tossed into a bad environment, the hit was walking away from $40k worth of stock options that would've vested in 6 months but it was a much better opportunity.

 

[theknight571]

I passed up an offer for a position that would have been approx. $20K more than I make now, but the hours and benefits sucked and I would have had to give up 4 weeks of vacation.

The money was what initially got my attention (who couldn't use an extra 20K?) but since I like my current job and it's benefits, so I decided that I could live without the extra money.

 

[purbeast0]

i wouldnt take a lesser paying job if i was continuing to work the 40 hours a week i currently do. no reason to devalue myself.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

is it still lower paying once you calculate compensation/true hours worked?

 

[Zstream]

is it still lower paying once you calculate compensation/true hours worked?

Bingo! Most people don't understand the amount of work hours and the true hourly rate they're actually getting.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Just wondering if anyone else would have done the same -- passed up on a good paying job, or take a lesser paying job if they became more happier by doing so.

I think it really depends on your bills but if you can afford it, I'd do it in a heartbeat. We just re-financed our house down to a 15 year mortgage and my goal is to pay it off even faster so 1) it will be paid off way before I retire and 2) I can take a pay cut later in life and not feel it if I decide to do something else.

At my last job, OT was expected and I was regularly doing 60+ hours per week. At one point, I realized that me working all those extra hours did nothing for myself (I was stressed and gained a ton of weight) and was actually giving the company an excuse not to hire additional resources. It also pissed me off that my boss would make a regular practice of coming to me at 4:00 PM and telling me he needed some ridiculous analysis and report done by 8 AM the next morning (which I later found out he wouldn't use for weeks). That kind of stuff was why I put in all those hours.

So finally, I had enough. He came to me one day late for his usual "urgent" report. I said "I'll have it for you in 2 days." He looked shocked and asked why he couldn't have it the next day. I said "It is 4:00 PM. That's why. It will take me x hours to do it and I'll do it during business hours tomorrow." That set a new precedent and I had no further problems there. It was otherwise a good place to work with great people and a challenging global environment. Unfortunately, a corporate reorg forced my hand and I chose to leave.

I then came to a place where it is more laid back, benefits are far superior, and I leave on time most days. I did take a pay cut to come here but the benefits more than made up for it. There's still stress and there are dark clouds on the horizon in the form of new management, but I'd do it again without hesitation if faced with the same decision. There are pros and cons though:

1. Obviously, benefits are nice but that still isn't something you can pay bills with. Fortunately, I worked hard and have made it back to my previous pay level AND I still have outstanding benefits (the 10% retirement contribution regardless of whether you contribute is the bomb).

2. The culture here isn't one I particularly like. I'm the type of person that wants to do his job and then go home. The constant need for "team building" or the 3 or 4 different holiday parties we have annoy the crap out of me, to the point where I just don't show up now.

3. Our department got new management this year and I have a lot of concerns with it, so much so that it might drive me out at some point. I have to stay until May 1, however, or I risk losing a 20% chunk of the largest chunk (of the 3 components) of my company's retirement contributions.

 

[Regs]

Quality of life should always be priority number one. Many doctors where I work, quit their job from a hospital, so they could spend more time with family and friends.

 

[WackyDan]

I would.

I designed my life around being debt free except for the mortgage, keeping vehicles until they die... We bought a house that was a bargain and well within our means.

I could take a $50k pay cut and still make ends meet and still have spare change. That is empowering.

That said, when I was laid off in 2010 for eight months, I had money in the bank and no stress. I even turned down an offer with base that was only a 3rd of my prior base... Because at some point you do have to draw the line and know what you are worth and when you are being taken advantage of.

 

[Kaido]

Yup, I took a pretty big pay cut to come to my current job. My last job had great pay and very stable hours, usually 40-45 hours a week. However, it was so stressful it was affecting my personal life, primarily due to a very difficult boss. My current job is 50-80 hours a week and has cruddy benefits, but I'm doing what I love (site admin/comp hardware) and I have an awesome boss. TOTALLY worth the pay cut to me. I'm not stressed out 24/7 anymore and I don't dread going to work every day. I wouldn't take my old job for twice the pay now that I've seen how much job enjoyment affects your day-to-day life.

I knew that happiness was a big part of a job ("job satisfaction" as I guess it's termed), but I can't say I ever saw myself leaving a job to take a new one with a pay cut, especially not a large pay cut. When you're young and need to pay for school and student loans and housing and whatnot, you do what you need to do to survive, even if the job is crappy, but when you get in a better position and have more choices...well, I was kinda surprised how much job satisfaction really mattered. I basically have my dream job in IT right now and get to do really cool projects on a regular basis. I have to budget more now, but my work life isn't a drag, so again, it's totally worth it.

Funny how things change as you get older.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I've turned down promotions because of the increase work that would be associated with it for the unbalanced increase in compensation. But some people out there only think about promotion, promotion, promotion, regardless of the imbalance.

People don't know how to properly value their time. If you work 80+ hours every week and make $100K per year on salary, guess what? The guy making $60K who is putting in 40 hours per week is making more than you per hour and has a ton more free time. Maybe the guy working 80 hours per week values the extra money regardless of all the extra time he/she is putting in, but what good is it if you can't enjoy it?

I've never bought into the notion of a "career" or "loving" your job so much that you should want to spend every waking moment working. I think people like that need some hobbies and most of all, some perspective. Trying to save all your fun until you retire is a recipe for disaster, because 1) that day may never come and 2) you may not physically be able to enjoy it.

 

[mikegg]

Yup. I once had a job that paid well and they paid for every minute of overtime by 1.5x and double overtime by 2x. Problem was, my boss was too cheap to hire more people so I did the work of 2 people. I was demanded overtime everyday. I tried leaving at 4:30PM one day after working 8 hours, he stopped me on my tracks and asked why I was leaving.

I quit after a couple of months. I basically had no life. It was literally wake up > commute for an hour > work 12 hours > commute for an hour > sleep. The only time I had were the weekends and I spent a lot of money to make myself feel better.

I learned that unless you absolutely need the money, you should never work too much. I was making 2x my normal rate working double OT but it slowly kills you and you start to feel like a robot and lifeless.

 

[vi edit]

I didn't really take a pay cut, but I greatly reduced my earning ceiling taking a different position in my company. My previous duty was essentially a server admin role that left me on call every other week, on weeks that I wasn't oncall at least one weekend a month I was usually onsite doing some kind of upgrade or maintenance. If I had a PTO day it either had to be on my "off call" week or I faced the potential of basically working all day if a server went down. It was hell.

I moved to a different group that was more application based, other teams handled the server/serious problems and I transitioned for similar pay, but at a maxed out level for the position. I'm kinda capped at what I can earn outside of the annual raises of 1%-3%.

There are days I'm bored...it's not as exciting. But I've got my nights to myself, can take a week off without worrying about anything, am only on call once every 12 weeks and just generally much lower anxiety over my responsibilities. My home life has greatly improved and my wife notices a huge difference in my personality since changing groups.

 

[olds]

It would depend on the circumstances but probably.

Years ago I had an interview for a better paying job and I really had the feeling the guy wanted to hire me but still wanted to interview me.

I showed up on time for the interview but he wasn't there. I waited for about 30 minutes and then left. When I got home my phone was ringing and it was him. He wanted me to come back for the interview. I told him I wouldn't work for someone that treated people the way he did and I hung up.

 

[gotsmack]

I gave up a promotion with 12k pay increase at a job I loved because I didn't want to relocate with the company to the middle of nowhere. I took a 5k pay cut to take an OK job transfer in Philly. Now I'm taking a 30k pay cut to move to the middle of nowhere Wisconsin because there will be huge career growth and geographic mobility after I get a couple years of exp.

my boss, friends, and family said that I'm crazy, but my co-workers who know how crap things are at the office support me, even though we are short on people.

You have to keep sight of the long term goals and not get comfortable just because things are "good enough"

 

[soulcougher73]

Work to live, not live to work. Once you have that motto down life is gravy

I refuse OT when offered to me as my time is more valuable than money to me.

 

[vi edit]

I refuse OT when offered to me as my time is more valuable than money to me.

That's the flip side of my life. I am salaried and have no opportunity for OT. My wife on the other hand is a pharmacist and has OT shifts on occasion. It's hard to turn down $700 for an extra 8 hours of work once every couple months.

 

[bigrash]

Yes, I would turn down a higher paying job if it meant spending less time with family.

 

[sze5003]

I gave up a promotion with 12k pay increase at a job I loved because I didn't want to relocate with the company to the middle of nowhere. I took a 5k pay cut to take an OK job transfer in Philly. Now I'm taking a 30k pay cut to move to the middle of nowhere Wisconsin because there will be huge career growth and geographic mobility after I get a couple years of exp.

my boss, friends, and family said that I'm crazy, but my co-workers who know how crap things are at the office support me, even though we are short on people.

You have to keep sight of the long term goals and not get comfortable just because things are "good enough"

Philly is a nice city but working or living in it blows. No matter what, you pay the city wage tax.

 

[soulcougher73]

That's the flip side of my life. I am salaried and have no opportunity for OT. My wife on the other hand is a pharmacist and has OT shifts on occasion. It's hard to turn down $700 for an extra 8 hours of work once every couple months.

Well true if i made that much for 8 hours i would do it occassionally to But i only make like $60k/year to begin with so 8 hours OT would be about $390 before taxes. LOL

 

[SMOGZINN]

I quit my job and took a job that cut my pay to about one third of what I made 3 years ago. Best decision in my life.

I use to work crazy hours, had no time for anything in my life other then work. Now, I work a 4/10 with no overtime, no weekends, no nights. When I leave my work I'm done, never on call, never bring anything home with me.

I made some good investments when I was making all that money, so I have a good rainy day fund if times get hard, and I have a fairly large 401k (which I am still investing in) for when I retire. I'm not living large like I use to, no more new cars, high end restaurants, or theater boxes, but I'm enjoying life more.

 

[mikegg]

I definitely think age has a lot to do with it too. When I was young, I was willing to work for anyone and anywhere. But as you get older, you appreciate time much much more. I don't have family yet. I'm sure once you have a family to your own, you'll value time even more so.