Downsizing your career?

[Admiral Huddy]

Maybe an odd or misleading title, but quite simple, would you give up a job for much less pay (say around half) if the job you were doing had no work? Consider also pension and possibly a redundancy package.

I’ve been in a job now where we’ve not had any project work for years and the only ones we have had is to centralise software back to head office in Germany. So the work gets less and less. Basically, it sounds like an ideal job, getting paid for just sitting around but it gets to you eventually. It’s quite soul destroying.

On the other side, given the job market and my age, I think I could be a lot worse off. I watched a program last week where this chap, who was once management, found himself supporting his family using the food bank because the benefit system failed him. I’m not sure I’d let that happen to be honest. I’d find something to do self employed from the offset.

Is the grass always greener and is money really worth more than your sanity?

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Is it better to jump or be pushed?

Precisely by dilemma

The problem I have I'm in a very niche market place which paid well but is now almost dead. There are legacy systems which I support and these are gradually being replaced with off the shelf products.

Being pushed would certainly be beneficial providing the company pay well for service but for me, a new job would be complete career change.

Jumping would mean I'm more likely to have some say in what I do.

Sounds like you have a great job, getting paid lots for doing nothing. I wouldn't want to change that. You'd probably just be substituting lack of work for too much work/stress. I know which I'd choose.

It does sound ideal but after 3 to 4 years. it kinds of make you feel worthless and pointless to an extent..

 

[Admiral Huddy]

For me, it's infectious and the lazy feeling ends up spreading to the rest of my life.

Right on the ball there mate.. This is exactly how I feel

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Only because you'd be completely unemployable due to lack of training, knowledge, expertise and experience in other fields (pun intended) which is not, I think, what the OP is considering.

I wouldn't get a job in the same field because things have moved on to the extend I'm unemployable. I've been in the field and sector for over 25 years... Simple solutions and rapid development have liquefied the market and watered down the expertise which was once such a speciality.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

A bit noddy to ask, but I'm sure you've flagged it to your direct reports? Seems odd a company paying you well to sit and do very little! I get lynched if I'm under 85%-90% capacity! For which reason I end up at 130% doing ridiculous hours!

Well in theory yes, but the legacy systems are only being maintained not developed which means I'm here for when they go wrong, which not often.

Then would you not be better off re-training in your personal time? Keeping your current lifestyle/wage until an something better comes along?

KaHn

Yes, I've been thinking of an OU course but this would mean a complete career change.. which lead me to this questioning

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Ha, been there Huddy! In 2006 I was "supporting" old IBM OS/2 systems that hadn't gone wrong since 1994!

AS/400 / iSeries?

 

[Admiral Huddy]

stay where you are until you figure out what you want to do.

soul destroying as it might be, its money coming in to pay the bills etc, and in my experience its far easier to find a job while in a job, plus as already mentioned use the time you have to figure out what you want to do.

if you get pushed fair enough, but i'd stick with it until you had a plan of what you wanted to do.

do you have family that are dependent on your income, and have you discussed it with them ?

Absolutely, they are 100% behind what ever I choose providing I'm happy, which I'm not presently.

If I had a post count of over 20,000 I'd definitely change job.

my defence that was over ten years

Oh bejeezuz, I'm currently running data extracts from the AS/400s here to generate a bunch of weekly reports, and my brain is melting. Are the systems that old?

They are bud... Most of the code I look at is from the mid 80s through to present. In fact, it hits me harder when i see a piece of code i wrote from that period and the date slaps you in the face hard

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Midlife crysis! Buy a Porsche!

Sorted.

Thank me later.

I've had too many of them already so I've been banned from any more