Help me give up my cushy dead end job

[Anonymous]

I have a really cushy job in a big name company for the past 2 years now. Almost zero weekend/night work, occasional early morning, hybrid-- 3 days in office alternating with 2 days every other week. Pay is decent. I have no direct reports. It works really well for me because I have three kids in elementary. I thought I hit the jackpot. Until layoffs came last year and my team is slashed to half. I am now doing the work of two people, but I can handle it because I am very efficient now. Because I got scared with the lay offs, I started applying. I was surprised that I wasnt getting any interviews at all from places/roles that I would have gotten so easily two years ago. I reflected a lot and I worry I am getting too old, too expensive (I have a stock buy out), and Im not really demonstrating any major wins at this current job. It's more of a reactive role.
My problem is almost all my coworkers are approaching retirement, or just waiting to retire. I have 20 years to go easily. I realized this when I got a comment during a networking event about, "Geez, what are you doing in that team? I thought you had to be dead to be there". Am I shooting myself by staying in this cushy job?!

Any stories out there?

[Anonymous]

Not clear what you think the problem is. I don’t think you’re scared of getting laid off given that most in your dept is about to retire.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I'm a bit confused.

I feel somewhat similar to you in that I am in a position right now with no promotional potential and I've been in it a while (6 years) and am super comfortable, but worried if I stay, I will miss my chance to move into a job with more upward momentum. But then I look at other jobs and think about all the goodwill and just... ease I have where I am, and I don't go through with it. Maybe I'm getting complacent, I don't know. I do worry if I jumped to another job, it would be hard on my family and stressful for me and I would wonder why I gave up such a good thing.

But I don't know what the answer is. I am sure I am leaving money on the table by not moving now, but I'm not sure jumping for a higher salary makes sense if I'm going to burn out faster.

I'm also closer to potential retirement than you. 10 years, unless I decide to stay longer. which I might in my current job but not sure that would be true somewhere else.

It's hard to compare a hypothetical other job to a real current job.

[Anonymous]

I am worried that I will be typecasted into this very unique cushy job and if I do get laid off, replaced by the next retiree wannabe with half my salary, I wont be able to land any job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am worried that I will be typecasted into this very unique cushy job and if I do get laid off, replaced by the next retiree wannabe with half my salary, I wont be able to land any job

What is a "retiree wannabe"? Do you think you will be replaced by someone older? That makes no sense.

If people are retiring around you, isn't it likely you will actually move up within the department? Maybe it is not as dead end as you think.

Also, what precisely are you being typecast as? It sound like you are in a niche area but is it one that has good stability in your industry? Sometimes the best job security you can have is a lot of knowledge and expertise in a specific area where there is always demand. Like I work in the legal industry, and while many people want to go into transactions or complex litigation early in their careers, some of the most stable careers are in things like tax, bankruptcy, and employee benefits. Not sexy, but they are always in demand and can often be counter-cyclical so firms often beef up those departments when the rest of the economy is down. It might sound boring but it pays bills.

[Anonymous]

What does it mean "stock buyout" mean?

You expect a new job to pay you for giving up your stock options you are giving up?

But wouldn't you also lose the stock if you are laid off?

[Anonymous]

Start side business and make it grow.
When you start making enough money transition full time to your business.

[Anonymous]

What is your salary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does it mean "stock buyout" mean?

You expect a new job to pay you for giving up your stock options you are giving up?

But wouldn't you also lose the stock if you are laid off?

That’s why companies give you stock options, to lock you in even when things go to the c4apper

[Anonymous]

Are you me? I could have written this. Down to the age of my coworkers. The most bizzarre thing is now I am applying for jobs that are in my skill set but I am not getting any bites.

[Anonymous]

Older/younger people can do my job for a cheaper amount of money. I make 280K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Start side business and make it grow.
When you start making enough money transition full time to your business.

This is an awesome idea but I honestly dont know where to begin and cant really take that much risk on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you me? I could have written this. Down to the age of my coworkers. The most bizzarre thing is now I am applying for jobs that are in my skill set but I am not getting any bites.

Yeah, I am scared

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am worried that I will be typecasted into this very unique cushy job and if I do get laid off, replaced by the next retiree wannabe with half my salary, I wont be able to land any job

What is a "retiree wannabe"? Do you think you will be replaced by someone older? That makes no sense.

If people are retiring around you, isn't it likely you will actually move up within the department? Maybe it is not as dead end as you think.

Also, what precisely are you being typecast as? It sound like you are in a niche area but is it one that has good stability in your industry? Sometimes the best job security you can have is a lot of knowledge and expertise in a specific area where there is always demand. Like I work in the legal industry, and while many people want to go into transactions or complex litigation early in their careers, some of the most stable careers are in things like tax, bankruptcy, and employee benefits. Not sexy, but they are always in demand and can often be counter-cyclical so firms often beef up those departments when the rest of the economy is down. It might sound boring but it pays bills.

There is nothing to move around to. People are pushed out and forcibly retired and then they say, "I had a good run"

[Anonymous]

I had a similar situation a while back - not at your salary- a coworker told me I was wasting my time and I should go for a more challenging position. I interviewed in another dept. for a much more challenging position in a more prestigious dept. and got the offer - I was absolutely miserable for the next 6 years. It took me years to recover from that mistake. I’m not you and I don’t know what other options you have and I’m sure you would do better research into your options than I did but reading your post gives me PTSD thinking back on that - I only really recovered about 2 years ago when I got my current position

My lesson was “ a bird in hand” and do more research before jumping ship and be careful what you wish for. All the lessons. That was terrible. Shudder.

Good luck op.