Interest in your perspective/advice (changing jobs less money)

Associate
Joined
10 Jan 2010
Posts
662
Hi all,

I would be interested in having your take on my current work situation. This is my first proper job/career so not really had this situation/feelings pop up before. For context I work in an office environment in the Accounting & Finance sector.


The short story is I am currently feeling dissatisfied with my employer lately. So much though instead of constantly moaning about it to people I am actively searching for other opportunities to take and am serious considering leaving. I have found a role in another place but is about £1.5k less money after taxes, etc. Could I be happier there? Will they give me more learning opportunities? Or will I be going from the 'frying pan into the oven'?


I have several 'grievances' with my current employer whom I have worked for over 4 years now but over a year ago my employer has merged with another company:

1. The work culture has changed dramatically - in my opinion it has got worse. It makes me feel uncomfortable: 'us and them'.

2. I have been placed (aka forced, without my say) in a different team where employees of the 'other' company we merged with make up the team I am in. If I had a choice I would have liked to have worked in a different team (at the minimum I would have liked to have been asked 'how do you feel about moving into x team').

3. I do not feel part of this team. I feel a bit of an outsider.

4. I have recently learned others had a choice about where they would like to work. I did not get this choice so feel resentment towards employer.

5. For over a year now, we have had about 3 changes in management and I still do not feel confident in management and the way they run things.

6. I am concerned about some decisions they have made and how it affects us. I think some of the decisions they have made are short-sighted and because they don't really understand the full consequences of their actions (nor do they appear to try e.g. by consulting us) --> and how those actions affect us (and funnily enough them as we miss deadlines) down the line. I feel management are out of control.

7. Communication wasn't good before merger and now it's abysmal. I can't tell if it is because of incompetence, corona-virus or a bit of both (majority of staff WFH).

8. I think we now have too many 'temps' and people on contract so I am not confident work culture will improve any time soon if I stick it out here (my assumption is that temps/contractors do not really influence the culture of a company as they do not stick around long enough to embed change)

9. I applied for a promotion within the team and didn't get it and upset about how they handled it as I perceive (this is what I've heard) that people in the other company could effectively 'walk in' to jobs without having the same due process and feel that 'birds together flock together' (we have to jump through hoops to be considered and they don't).

10. Many of my colleagues from same original company applied for promotions or other roles and didn't get it despite them either effectively having done the role before (pre-merger they had changed departments) or had stepped up.

11. Most days I feel that I don't know what I am supposed to be doing and do not have a clearly defined role or purpose since the merger. Lots of previous tasks I used to be responsible for have got taken over by other teams so I can no longer say "I do xyz" (my contract says they can vary my duties to reflect changing organisational requirements)

12. I don't feel that I am getting the necessary support from my current de jure (my organisational chart) manager nor sufficient contact.

13. I do not like the way I am treated by my de facto manager (the one that actually manages me in the real world).

14. I am supposed to be managing someone but they are on more money than me (mergers TUPE'd over with more generous pay packet and perks). This just feels wrong to me.
However, in actual fact someone else does the day-to-day managing which I think is weird (do they not trust me? Are they just getting me to do the stuff they don't want).

All the above has led me to think it is time to pick up and move on. I have thought of some pros and cons of staying:

Pros of staying
+ salary is higher than alternative location
- however I think the salary gap will close over time (I believe the salary will increment over time/experience) even if I stay at same level/role and don't get a promotion.
+ familiarity - I know the system (more or less) and current processes and procedures and people ('devil I know' perhaps?)
+ might gain some management experience (see point 14)

Cons of staying
- feel stuck as a 'handyman' doing pieces of work here and there on stuff I don't really like
- feel resentment against management and decisions they have made (above points)
- don't feel recognition what I have done
- get the feeling I am just being "used" (+aren't all employees though?)
- work culture will not change for a very long time
- dependence increases meaning I don't want to feel dependent on one company it makes me feel weak and perhaps 'stuck there'

Pros of leaving
+ lose subordinate and dealing with admin and tasks associated with it
+ might (hoping to) gain more valuable experience at other company
+ should have clearly defined role and responsibilities
+ hopefully everyone will know what they are doing

Cons of leaving
- loss of opportunity on CV (see point 14)
- 'grass is greener on the other side' I might be walking into a similar situation
- loss of contact with staff I like (+ but if they are true friends then I will still see them on weekends or whatever)

Should I stay or should I go?

So have you ever left a job to work somewhere else for less money? Did you regret it?

Thanks for reading. If anything it has been useful for me to write this down!
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Posts
21,946
4 years is a decent innings. Culture is typically eroded when a merger like this happens. Look for a step up, don't take a pay cut. Market is hot at the moment.
 
Associate
Joined
10 Apr 2008
Posts
1,010
Everything you have done in the past, currently do can be put on your CV, along with the responsibility for what you should be doing but they're not letting you fully. If you've done it at some point, you've still done it.
That you're managing someone on more money than you should indicate that your pay should be a little higher, and you should be asking for more when applying for a new job. Its hard to get an increase when in a role, the transition from one job to another is when you typically level up. Companies always advertise jobs offering low ball numbers. Ask for what you want. They may say no, but what if they would have said yes but you didn't ask for it? If they say you're asking too much, tell them you need that much, and how close can they go to it.
I've heard about mergers like this before where the person in charge of a department/office slowly gets rid of everyone that didn't come from their side of the company. Its not a great experience.
 
Associate
Joined
10 Sep 2021
Posts
118
Location
UK
So have you ever left a job to work somewhere else for less money? Did you regret it?

Yes, a couple of times I took a pay cut. Taking one step back to take two forward has always worked out for me. I learnt very young to jump ship if things were not to my liking, in my experience things rarely get better.

The best thing I ever did was start my own business, it scared the **** out of me at the start, for the first year I was paying staff out of my own savings and had no income at all but luckily the business took off and I have not looked back.

So think about were you want to be in future and make sure any short term moves correlate with your long term goals.
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
25 Oct 2002
Posts
31,706
Location
Hampshire
14. I am supposed to be managing someone but they are on more money than me (mergers TUPE'd over with more generous pay packet and perks). This just feels wrong to me.
However, in actual fact someone else does the day-to-day managing
It might feel wrong, but that's because we are brought up with this idea that managers should earn more than their staff for no reason other than where they sit on the org chart, not what value they are actually adding. By your own admission, you aren't actually doing the day-to-day management.

In some disciplines / organisations, having a manager earn less than a direct report is normal because the direct report is an experienced specialist whereas the manager may be more of a facilitator. An example from a previous employer was there was a Senior Technical Architect reporting to a Systems Support Manager. The former was much more experienced but hadn't gone down the management route. I don't know how the manager felt about it but it seemed OK to me looking in objectively.
I also had a direct report earning slightly more than me for a short period at another company, again they had nearly 20 years of experience at the organisation and were a key individual.
 
Associate
Joined
22 May 2004
Posts
1,782
Location
N.Ireland
I once moved job and took paycut of around 5k. I was very lucky as now near 10 years later at the new employer I am earning lots more than I could have at my previous and most of all im happy in my work. So taking a risk sometimes can be good.

Good luck whatever you decide
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
Posts
15,940
First I would say - approach your current employer - You've obviously taken a fair bit of time to list the above issues - approach them, see what they say. Worst case, they dismiss your issues, but then you know it's time to go.

Best case - they pay you more, offer you a better/different role that you find more suitable.

No harm taking pay cut moving on but make sure it's the right job. I took a massive pay cut in my early 20's (From around 25k to 15k) but it was a better culture, nicer place to work and within 12 months I was back up and above the previous salary.
 
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