Voluntary redundancy - would I be mad?

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Hey all! I'm all over the shop here and was hoping for some opinions (and it always helps to "talk" these things over). This may be a long post ....

As per my other thread I've been offered the chance of taking voluntary redundancy - and have until lunchtime tomorrow to decide

I don't hate my current job, but I don't love it. The people are a good laugh and the job is often challenging - however they are going to try and offshore our jobs in the next 12 months and if successful then there's a good chance I would get laid off anyway. It's by no means guaranteed though, because my role deals with the handling of all of the UK's sensitive DWP data and the cabinet may still block the move.

My job is in IT supporting a government system and my skills are a bit "Jack of all trades master of none" - I know Unix, Database, Websphere etc. but none of them in depth enough to get a specific job, so it's not easy to identify what my role would be if I went elsewhere.

I've spent the day looking at job sites recommended by people here and to be honest, out of the hundreds I've looked through I've only seen one job that comes close to what I think I can do.

The other variable, is that my severance offer is £65k (£50k ish after tax) which is a lot of money to me and could easily support me for a couple of years.

I've got no dependants, and live on my own, so the only person affected by the decision is me. I'm 37 too, so not too old (but not that young either!) Oh, and I just got a first class business degree at the start of the year.

So to sum it up...

Good reasons to leave:

A large payout
Not a job I love
May be forced out in 12 months anyway, meaning a lot more people all applying for the same jobs

Reasons not to leave:

Doesn't look like a lot of jobs out there
Pay is pretty good + lots of paid overtime
Don't see my "skills" as marketable
No fear of the unknown.


Someone help me! Please!

[angryjonny]

Gut feel is really your best guide here.

A decade or so ago I was working for an iddy biddy power company called Enron. We were all offered voluntary redundancy and my boss's boss made it clear to me that if it came to compulsaries they'd be on a last-in, first-out basis. I was second to last in, so to speak.

So I took it. A month (when I had already started my new job) later the company went spectacularly bankrupt and everyone and his dog spilled out onto the job market. I was the only person at that year's Xmas party that had a job (it was already paid for so it went ahead).

Of course, one story of one bloke finding it the right thing to do doesn't mean everyone will. Could be a disaster. It's not as scary out there as you'd imagine, for a professional though. The company I work for is recruiting quite heavily at the moment.

Don't underestimate what you can do. You know a lot more than you realise. Companies out there know that there's a lot of people to choose from so they're asking for the moon on a stick experience-wise, but few people, if any, can fulfil them all. That said, we've taken on about 4 people in the past month or so and they're all head and shoulders above anyone we could recruit a couple of years ago. I'm lucky enough to have one of them working for me - sharp guy.

[hellkat]

I had a bit of an experience with this "government voluntary redundancy" scheme, recently.

Seems like they suggest you apply to go voluntarily, but then they take FOREVER to decide, and you are left hanging. Nobody tells you anything, and nobody gets back to your or returns your calls asking when you are going to be told whether your application has been accepted.

Then you start to panic cos nobody is telling you anything, and you apply for every job under the sun, and go for some interviews. You get two or three fairly shitty jobs lined up, where you are on the shortlist or even been offered a job, which you think "Fuck it, I'll take it", just cos its a job, even if its the same money and the same department, but maybe its closer to home, or for some reason seems like not a bad idea.

And then ... they tell you that they decided your job couldn't be one of the ones that they are going to cut, that you have a "necessary" job, and effectively: they turn you down for redundancy.

I had my whole summer planned out based on the (admittedly fairly small) payout I was expecting to get. They turned down my application for voluntary redundancy, and fucked up all my plans.

So be wary: if you DO decide to go for it, expect to be fucked around. If you're not and they accept your redundancy application, then great: you will already have been applying for jobs and hopefully something will turn up before you actually leave.

The government doesn't know its arse from its elbow at the moment. They've not been in an economic situation like this before, its not EVEN like the Depression, and everybody in business, government or otherwise has any idea what the fuck to do next. They're just bumbling along doing what they always did, and hoping it all works out for the best. Those who are taking risks, are doing it because they haven't got a lot to lose anyway.

(/Siggy on that last paragraph )


Good luck.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[flat spot]

It takes a long time to save that sort of cash. I'd take it without a thought. Oh BTW, I've done it before for much less.

[Easter Bunny]

What do you enjoy doing?

I'd take the money and start up a business!
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The light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train!

[instigator]

Take the money; it will allow you to get a job where your degree is directly related. Chances are, it'll be on a lower salary than you were on before but could lead your career down a different road which sounds to me like something you probably want.

Take the cash, minimise your monthly outgoings as soon as you can and start searching and applying.

[CaNsA]

Take the money, then leave this shitty country.

[Louise]

Id take the money if im honest....

I was offered voluntary redundancy for £500 Only because ive been there only 2 years.
The AUM was offered 20k, 12 years service. and shes applied for it... dose not mean she will get it. Hampshire Council are a bit messed up
50K redundancy pay is like a jackpot to many of us..
I do it, so many things you could do with that money, live your life a little

[Dex]

I've just been offered the chance to apply for compulsory redundancy (yes i know, sounds odd)

the bottom line is I'd get £70k tax free as I walked out the door, and 6 months notice to leave (being announced 1 sep)


A big lump of the money (£30k) would go straight into my house, but that would leave me some money to live off for a while and top up wages while I was looking for where I wanted to go with work.

I've applied. But I won't be sad if I don't get it as I'd still have a job.

I see it as a win/win

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Thanks for the input everyone. Sounds like most people are leaning towards taking the offer. I would 100% definitely say that too if it wasn't me we were discussing.

Thought I would sleep on it, but just woke up in a cold sweat of indecision - knowing I've only got about 10 hours to decide.

I'm not after much from a new job pay-wise, and would be happy to take a job that only paid around £20k and work my way up. My current job only pays £28k so it's not exactly a huge drop. Problem is that before I started looking I assumed there would be a tonne of jobs that paid that sort of figure but it appears to not be the case.

[CaNsA]

Lets boil it down.

Take 50k, have a holiday and chill while you get another job/start planning your emigration.

Dont take 50k, chance you will get SFA in a few months and loose your job anyway.

The former is a big step outside the "comfort zone" and that's what's worrying you.

In true BCF Style
MTFU®™

It's a no brainer.

[Rogerborg]

I make £50K after tax to be close to 2.5 years of your current after-tax / NI take-home pay.

I can't see how you could possibly be worse off taking the money. Just make sure you get everything in writing.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Easter Bunny]

OPEN THE BOX............NO NO TAKE THE MONEY!!

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The light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train!

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Ha. Yeah, that's exactly what it's like!

[Suntan Sid]

That is too large a sum of money to turn down.
By the looks of it you've managed to hold down a good job for a while so you've now got "experience", which we all knows trumps qualifications in the jobs market.

I took voluntary redundancy a while back, got a years salary out of it, I was offered another job while I was working the notice period.

Debt free is the way to go these days.
I'd be at the bosses door breaking it down right now, that's a fair sized wad!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[hellbound]

If redundancys are on the card then take it, as someone said in 6 months the company could go bankrupt and you'll be fighting the crediters for that redundancy and still might not get it.

at the moment its there but in 6 months all the money might have gone and you'll still have no job.
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May you always see the road rising up to meet you and your enemies defeated in the mirror behind.

[angryjonny]

If someone deposited 50k in my bank account it would simply serve as an experiment to see how quickly a man can piss 50k up against a wall.

But if you think you've got the discipline to live off it "normally" until you get another job, then it's a no-brainer.

Minimum legal settlement is your notice period + 2 weeks pay per year worked (if you've been there more than 2 years) and even that is capped. Offers like this are few and far between.

Basically, I'd snap his hand off. Oh wait, wrong thread.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Well I've only gone and done it. Got 7 weeks left, then I'm on the dole (with a bag of cash)

Be ready for a post in 6 months time saying I've pissed away all my cash and I can't find a job - anyone know how to make a noose?

Thanks for the advice folks. Much appreciated.

[RichieZX6R]

[CaNsA]

[Clanger]

If you go before all the others you might pip them to the post (of a new job)...

You could use the redundancy money for an extended trip overseas, and come back when the recession has lifted. Work for VSO overseas to keep your hand in, I'm sure they will love to have an IT bod.

Or go on a motorbike trip around the UK and work out where it is you'd like to live next.

The decision at the end of the day is your own.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[DanceLikeAMon...]

[621andy]

Good decision If it was just a couple of grand then you'd probably be better off staying, but for that amount, then you've definitely made the right move!

DON'T piss it up the wall though And yes, try and get on a government retraining scheme rather than spending your own cash...they can only say no

Get a job, any job, that allows you to study, and it'll stop you eating into your capital...

Me, giving financial advice to someone 50 grand in my hand, and it'd be a newer bike, a glider and a new lappy and the rest Iz'd waste
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'93 Africa Twin RD07, C-90,MTX-125,H-100,XL-125, a 125UAG(CG copy!)

[angryjonny]

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Sort of. PRINCE2 is a methodology that you apply to projects and plans, but it's a recognised qualification that you have to re-certify every few years.

There's a few different ones that certain other companies expect project manager recruits to have, but that seems to be the qualification of choice.