Offered job - big pay cut

[Anonymous]

I was offered a job that I really want but with a lowered than expected salary. It’s a public institution so they offered me as much as they could at the allotted pay band. My potential future boss said there is room for advancement.

My current job is on the rocks. The market is shifting and the company may be in trouble. I’m fine with the actual work but I don’t know how much longer we can hold it together.

I don’t know what to do. I want the new job but the salary is less than ideal.

Anyone take a pay cut and NOT regret it?

[Anonymous]

OP here, it may be relevant to mention that I’m 49, female.

[Anonymous]

That’s a tough one - how much lower? Is it something you could make up in a few years?

I have been job hunting for 2 years. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride (came in finalist, #2, three times!). But just got an offer at less than my target rate, but still 8% more than I make now. I accepted. It is a government position with lock-step yearly 5% raises, so I figured I would get to my target wage in 4 years. I was okay with that.

I hate my current job. So just leaving that toxic wasteland would have even led me to take a pay cut as well.

[Anonymous]

I took a big pay cut to go to fed but knew my promotions were regular and frequent. It was a very good decision

[Anonymous]

OP here.

My current company compensation is a little weird in the my base isn’t high but I get a percentage of my billable hours and average 150k. We don’t live in the DMV and are dual income so this works. But with the way the market is shifting in my industry, I’m anticipating a drop in income, possibly significant.

The new offer is 50k less but I was assured of advancement possibilities. It’s not quite government but similar-ish. I’m okay with not 100% replacing that income immediately but at some point soon-ish I’d like to get close.

[Anonymous]

50K is not that much loss for job security as long as opportunity for advancement and payraises are real

[Anonymous]

If your current job is on the rocks presumably you aren’t going to have it for much longer. When you lose that job, how long will it take you to find something at what you find an acceptable pay rate. Can you afford no income for that period?

If your job was secure, it would seem to me that you have options. With the potential for unemployment and your only option is no pay or pay at a rate less than you want, the latter seems the obvious choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was offered a job that I really want but with a lowered than expected salary. It’s a public institution so they offered me as much as they could at the allotted pay band. My potential future boss said there is room for advancement.

My current job is on the rocks. The market is shifting and the company may be in trouble. I’m fine with the actual work but I don’t know how much longer we can hold it together.

I don’t know what to do. I want the new job but the salary is less than ideal.

Anyone take a pay cut and NOT regret it?

what skills do yo have, what industry, what's you pay etc. no idea how we can help without this info

[Anonymous]

Details are needed. How much is your salary now and what is the new offer? What is your HHI? Are you paying for college? Is your retirement fund in good shape?

[Anonymous]

I would take this and keep looking if the raise doesn’t come.

[Anonymous]

Hi op, I took a pay cut too at 45… my other job ended. It was project specific. My new job has excellent benefits. Including work from home, essentially free health insurance and prescriptions, and a pension. I went from $148 to $125 in taking this job. It’s a nonprofit, so raises are incremental. I’m making $133 I think, 2 years in… 5 years will be a step increase. One thing I like is that my org is quite flat. No one makes much. There is transparency and equity.

[Anonymous]

Given that your current job is "on the rocks," I would take it. However, I would ask for more information about "room for advancement." Ask what that looks like/means to them.

Back in my 20s, I took a $10k payout (from $32k to $22k - early 1990s) because they told me after a year they'd make me whole. It didn't happen, and when I asked about it, they claimed they had no idea what I was talking about, and I left shortly afterward (as soon as I found something new)

[Anonymous]

Job security + a job you like can be greater than a higher salary with less job security and a job you don't like, assuming that you can live on the lower salary.

[Anonymous]

Anyone else feel like the market is shifting lower? I swear our roles are posted for 50k lower! I got a competitor offer and also lower than what I make, even with showing them my stock awards where they can back calculate what I make.

OP-- that is a tricky situation. How realistic would it be that you will be laid off in a year. If more than 50%, id probably take the new role if it seems more stable.

[Anonymous]

Are the benefits good? I took a pay cut least time in switched jobs — not so extreme as yours, $160k to $140k but without much possibility of advancement as I don’t expect to be eligible for a promotion for sometime — and it was a great decision. In my case, the old company was fine and stable, I was just bored. New job is much more fun for me and also has some benefits I appreciate like more PTO (critical with young kids) and location flexibility so I’m planning to leave the DMV soon. I think it partially depends on your personality too — I like stability and absolutely hate job hunting so I would take the job even with the pay cut to avoid the upheaval. But also take a long look at your budget — can you live on $50k less? What do you lose in your day-to-day life and/or long term savings without that money and how much does that matter to you?