Anyone aged 50+ quit their job and took a 50%+ pay cut for another job

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Unofficially the remit of the job changed in April 2020 following the department I headed up being outsourced to a foreign company.

The team was made redundant and my role TUPE’d across

The remit was meant to stay the same but, there is actually a different person in any other country now running the team and doing what I’d did over there rather than over here. The new team are also based in

So, I just, in effect, pick up scraps of work that fall within my skill set whenever they come along.

I was very busy at the onset due to knowledge transfer
 
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Unofficially the remit of the job changed in April 2020 following the department I headed up being outsourced to a foreign company.

The team was made redundant and my role TUPE’d across

The remit was meant to stay the same but, there is actually a different person in any other country now running the team and doing what I’d did over there rather than over here. The new team are also based in

So, I just, in effect, pick up scraps of work that fall within my skill set whenever they come along.

I was very busy at the onset due to knowledge transfer
OK. But you also hate your job or is it just the imposter syndrome making you hate it?
 
The imposter bit tips it over the edge but, I do hate the work that I do now. The work I used to do was fine and (in my mind) was value add.
 
The imposter bit tips it over the edge but, I do hate the work that I do now. The work I used to do was fine and (in my mind) was value add.

I would say look for something else. Does computer software interest you at all? I notice you have some background with computer studies. My company has taken on loads of people who are cross training from other types of job.
 
Could you do a side project with value add to the company? Like with software dev, adding automation, continuous integration etc etc.
 
Do you have the option of moving to a different role or job sector within your current company?
 
I would say look for something else. Does computer software interest you at all? I notice you have some background with computer studies. My company has taken on loads of people who are cross training from other types of job.

Thanks for the reply, I flit was looking for something else to not all the time.


Do you have the option of moving to a different role or job sector within your current company?

Sadly not, the new company I work for is actually in a different sector (IT) versus the one I was at (Insurance) so don’t actually have the skills to do anything that new company does outside of current placement.
 
I decided to leave my well paid but stressful job in corporate communications a few years ago when a voluntary one off early retirement package was on offer to people aged 50 or over. I was 50 and felt this was a huge opportunity to make a change in my life. So I went for it and can honestly sayI have not regretted it. I now work part time in a consultancy role and love it. It is the perfect life balance.

One thing I would say is do your financial calculations very carefully before you make the leap. You need to still be able to afford to pay the necessary bills and do the things you enjoy without having to pennypinch. Otherwise you will just be replacing one kind of stress with another.
 
Thanks for the reply, I flit was looking for something else to not all the time.




Sadly not, the new company I work for is actually in a different sector (IT) versus the one I was at (Insurance) so don’t actually have the skills to do anything that new company does outside of current placement.
Project management? Product owner? There are tons of roles with transferable skills. Does your company have a jobs board to see what other internal vacancies there are? From my experience, internal moves are much easier than external, and also the company saves on recruitment consultants etc, plus you know the business.
 
Project management? Product owner? There are tons of roles with transferable skills. Does your company have a jobs board to see what other internal vacancies there are? From my experience, internal moves are much easier than external, and also the company saves on recruitment consultants etc, plus you know the business.

Yes, I had thought about PM, would need to retrain mind as all the jobs require documented experience of either six sigma or prince 2.

Frustratingly, when I did the job I do now for the insurance company I could have evidenced competed projects that they would have know about and referenced doing the internally accredited 6 sigma courses.

Unfortuankty the company I was TUPE’d to won’t have any internal knowledge of previously delivered projects or said internal courses.

Thanks for the input
 
How about maybe helping out with something local, even financially (not suggesting you advertise ‘cash available’ :rotfl: ). For instance, we have a local litter picking group who do an amazing job cleaning the whole area every day (we’re talking 7-8 square miles). They were recently raising funds for new equipment, it was only £500 total they asked for, and got, and it felt good to be able to contribute.

Work wise, you may not feel like you’re value for money, but you must be needed or the company wouldn’t waste their money. I was at work for 7 hours yesterday working a day off, and the actual work I did amounted to almost £100 a minute. But, somebody had to be there just in case, and that few minutes work at the end had to be done.
 
How about maybe helping out with something local, even financially (not suggesting you advertise ‘cash available’ :rotfl: ). For instance, we have a local litter picking group who do an amazing job cleaning the whole area every day (we’re talking 7-8 square miles). They were recently raising funds for new equipment, it was only £500 total they asked for, and got, and it felt good to be able to contribute.

Work wise, you may not feel like you’re value for money, but you must be needed or the company wouldn’t waste their money. I was at work for 7 hours yesterday working a day off, and the actual work I did amounted to almost £100 a minute. But, somebody had to be there just in case, and that few minutes work at the end had to be done.
That is a good point. Finding personal fulfilment outside of work is another option. I doubt there is much more satisfaction you could get than through volunteering.

Just getting a job at B&Q wouldn't give you the fulfilment you are looking for. As an example, if you are working a mid week shift and footfall is light. You might be standing around or dusting the bathroom/kitchen units down while their are no customers.

Have you requested to go on the Prince course for example. Companies often have separate pots of money for training, or just pay for it yourself, then see what else you can offer the company. I think there are lots of ways you can feel more justified without just jumping ship.
 
That is a good point. Finding personal fulfilment outside of work is another option. I doubt there is much more satisfaction you could get than through volunteering.

Just getting a job at B&Q wouldn't give you the fulfilment you are looking for. As an example, if you are working a mid week shift and footfall is light. You might be standing around or dusting the bathroom/kitchen units down while their are no customers.

Have you requested to go on the Prince course for example. Companies often have separate pots of money for training, or just pay for it yourself, then see what else you can offer the company. I think there are lots of ways you can feel more justified without just jumping ship.

I agree 100%. I think the OP would be just as pee’d off, but with much less money.
 
I agree 100%. I think the OP would be just as pee’d off, but with much less money.

I agree.

What I have tried to do is think of jobs I have (IMO) a chance of getting and then convince myself they would be ok for me.

The reality is that I want a complete change of job also one where I work for myself either Dry Stone Waller or selling Pie and Peas on the indoor market.

Now that I have decided that I want to work for myself and outside of corporate business etc, I just need to decide.

1) Do I work till end of year to build up start up money and put myself in place where I actually need to be earning at least 1K a month Net

or

2) See if a can last till end of 2022 in current job, by which time I would have a solid safety net before I need to start earning

Thanks again to all
 
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I agree.

What I have tried to do is think of jobs I have (IMO) a chance of getting and then convince myself they would be ok for me.

The reality is that I want a complete change of job also one where I work for myself either Dry Stone Waller or selling Pie and Peas on the indoor market.

Now that I have decided that I want to work for myself and outside of corporate business etc, I just need to decide.

1) Do I work till end of year to build up start up money and put myself in place where I actually need to be earning at least 1K a month Net

or

2) See if a can last till end of 2022 in current job, by which time I would have a solid safety net before I need to start earning

Thanks again to all
In my experience with offshoring there tends to be the KT as you've already mentioned happening, then a year maybe two of keeping a skeleton of the onshore resources around for what's still in their head, followed by the inevitable redundancies.

If I were in your place I'd sit there and let them pay you for what you know and just see if they do start talking redundancy next year - then snap their hands off.

Meanwhile start skilling up for your next career what ever that may be

and best of luck
 
In my experience with offshoring there tends to be the KT as you've already mentioned happening, then a year maybe two of keeping a skeleton of the onshore resources around for what's still in their head, followed by the inevitable redundancies.

If I were in your place I'd sit there and let them pay you for what you know and just see if they do start talking redundancy next year - then snap their hands off.

Meanwhile start skilling up for your next career what ever that may be

and best of luck

The above is very good to read.

I’d sort of assumed though that, paying a 6 figure (Gross) redundancy amount would be quite outside the new companies wish.
 
The above is very good to read.

I’d sort of assumed though that, paying a 6 figure (Gross) redundancy amount would be quite outside the new companies wish.
Yeah at that level they may well leave it as long as possible in the hope that you'd go of your own accord but they have to factor in you could stay for a decade more plus. If you weigh the cost of your salary for that length then it might still make sense

and they should have factored the redundancy costs into the bid, so whilst the beancounters won't like it it wouldn't be unexpected
 
Sadly not, the new company I work for is actually in a different sector (IT) versus the one I was at (Insurance) so don’t actually have the skills to do anything that new company does outside of current placement.

I am not a fan of the term "sector" and particularly when things like "IT" are included as one.

Name a company in the insurance sector or banking sector that doesn't have any IT staff? So are those people FS or are they IT?

At the end of the day the insurance firm you worked for TUPEd staff to this organisation so even if their bigger interest is in IT they clearly have an insurance focus within it (even if its one of several sectors serviced by them).

Six Sigma, and its poor relation Lean, are both process improvement tools and therefore much more commonly the skill set of BAs than PMs... not to say some don't try and kill both off with one person. Your internal course goes on your CV as much as your external one, just you don't claim certification... so my CV says I am Prosci trained rather than accredited. I must admit my CV does still say I have Prince2 practitioner but that expired more than a decade ago.

Projects you have delivered are the same, they can go on your CV irrespective of if you are a PM or Head of Analytics. As a non-specialist ultimately its about telling the story... saying the head of analytics was the product owner on a rationalisation of reports project makes full sense... a call centre agent saying they oversaw the Solvency II programme would raise eyebrows.

To be honest, some aspects of your story seem a little odd which potentially could be explained but probably by revealing more personal details than you'd want to which is perfectly fair enough. Getting new jobs is ultimately a skill and a tiny bit of lateral thinking.
 
Name a company in the insurance sector or banking sector that doesn't have any IT staff? So are those people FS or are they IT?

Good point, perhaps a more simplistic way to put it is to, imagine a joiner who works for a large Joinery firm. After working in all of the different joinery sections, Doors, windows, roofs, wood grading, cabinet making etc, said Joiner becomes head of a new and very very small group of people who do electrical work when required.

Several years later, the Joiners firm decide its best to outsource the work the electrical team do to a company that is 100% electrics. All the Electricians, except the head of, are made redundant. The head of is TUPE’d to the Electrical firm so to enable continued smooth provisions of electrical works to the joinery company.

At point of Tipe the head of is told that for the duration of the contract they would not be able to move to a different area in the Electrical company that has taken over the work, although this hardly matters as the head of has no electrical experience anyway.

Post Tupe the head of finds out someone else is now running the team of electricians and all the old head of does is in effect “post box” / “mediator” / “Fixer” between the two companies to ensure smooth service delivery. Which, after 12 months since the change has now petered out to hardly any work.

The Tupe took place in March 2020 just as COVID was hitting the world, and of course a time when everything was uncertain and, realistically not a time to rock the boat.

Even now, the country where the new company is based is suffering terrible and, in reality, I am just on my own. For example, I have never met anyone face to face from the new company or even had a video call.

Purpose of the thread was to seek help / ideas on options etc and not to write a complaint monologue as above.
 
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Not sure how a joinery firm gets a hybrid electrician team but either the manager reskills so has hybrid skills too or is the true people manager which is independent of what the staff do.

There are certainly some exceptions but as you go up the corporate ladder your knowledge in the coalface teams actions get ever more remote and your skills become more leadership and strategy hence you get the likes of a chap who's worked his career in telecoms and engineering becoming the COO of an insurance/investment company.
 
50K I would call well paid

Also, in my case I only work 32 hours and week over 4 days with Zero (responsibility / accountability) and good benefits.

So basically twiddling my thumbs (have probably watched every daytime shot of the snooker) whilst sat in garden office

Sounds great but it’s not

Sounds like you are bored, I hate been bored at work, and doing something you are comfortable with day in day out isn't for everyone (certainly not for me).

For me anyways I need additional challenges at work to keep my find focused and stop bordem from setting in. I've gotten on to two masters programs off my own back, which I do/did in additional to my day job.

The extra qualifications has helped me to expand my role in the direction I want. At present am in the position where I have TOO much additional work and I'm able to mould my job plan to drop bits of work I don't enjoy as much for bits I do.

I've always worked on the principle I need to develop new skills constantly to stay relevant and progress up my career. If you are 'bored' at work take up the luxury of time to gain additional qualifications and skills.

Personally I wouldn't call £50k well paid if you are sitting there twiddling your thumbs. It tells me if you got the opportunity to get busy and excited about a new role you can be earning much more!!

Sit back and see if you have opportunities to increase your own knowledge/CV, you must have great front line/hands on experiences, thats someone invaluable to most organisations. If you can combine that with strategic planning/thinking those higher up in the organisation will be banging down your door (or filling up the inbox) with work requests. The fact you have survived whilst every one else was culled shows how much 'value' you have to the company.

Leadership, project management, transformational change delivery etc there are loads of education resources out of there. Anyone can take a course in these subjects, but very few will be able to take whats written down on paper and apply it in real practice- which I suspect you can if you tried!!

Good luck with what ever you do, and wish me luck on an interview tomorrow for yet another role I have applied for!! I don't think I have done the same job role uncharged for more than 12 months in the last 5 years!!

In your position taking a pay cut for a lesser role is the last thing I would be aiming for......quite the opposite.
 
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Good luck with what ever you do, and wish me luck on an interview tomorrow for yet another role

Thank you, and you bet I wish you every success.

I used to tell people (clearly you do need my thoughts of wisdom mind), that the only thing that matters with an interview is that when you leave the room you do not think “I wish I had said this or that” and it’s important to make sure that the panel get to hear everything you want to tell them.
 
Not quite aged 50, but quit teaching after 20+ years and went into healthcare, with a 50% reduction in pay.

If you factor in that I get paid overtime if I work extra, and way less travel (5 min commute vs 45min) the cut in £ isn't so bad.

I am fortunate that earning more in teaching allowed me to pay off my mortgage / save a nest egg, meaning I could afford to switch.

I'd only go back to teaching if the system changed significantly.
 
Good point, perhaps a more simplistic way to put it is to, imagine a joiner who works for a large Joinery firm. After working in all of the different joinery sections, Doors, windows, roofs, wood grading, cabinet making etc, said Joiner becomes head of a new and very very small group of people who do electrical work when required.

Several years later, the Joiners firm decide its best to outsource the work the electrical team do to a company that is 100% electrics. All the Electricians, except the head of, are made redundant. The head of is TUPE’d to the Electrical firm so to enable continued smooth provisions of electrical works to the joinery company.

At point of Tipe the head of is told that for the duration of the contract they would not be able to move to a different area in the Electrical company that has taken over the work, although this hardly matters as the head of has no electrical experience anyway.

Post Tupe the head of finds out someone else is now running the team of electricians and all the old head of does is in effect “post box” / “mediator” / “Fixer” between the two companies to ensure smooth service delivery. Which, after 12 months since the change has now petered out to hardly any work.

The Tupe took place in March 2020 just as COVID was hitting the world, and of course a time when everything was uncertain and, realistically not a time to rock the boat.

Even now, the country where the new company is based is suffering terrible and, in reality, I am just on my own. For example, I have never met anyone face to face from the new company or even had a video call.

Purpose of the thread was to seek help / ideas on options etc and not to write a complaint monologue as above.

I know what this sounds like, and it's happened to me before, in a different way. It's called 'managed out'. A common technique of getting someone to leave the company of their own volition, without actually sacking them. One reason for doing this is because in the UK I believe you can't make someone redundant, then replace them with someone else doing the same job.

So the best way of demoralising someone is to give them no work to do, or no defined role, which is intensely boring and soul destroying. Then later on when appraisal time comes, you can always ask what they've achieved, to twist the knife a bit more. Well, I did very little because you didn't give me any work.
 
Do you have an HR department? If you're unable to just sit there taking the money, then maybe raise the issue with them as one of mental wellbeing. Unless the dept. is run by complete morons (entirely possible), that should get their attention as no company wants negative publicity around that issue. If they're on the ball that could then go one of two ways.

They could look at training/redeployment to make you more valuable to the business & give you a degree of job satisfaction.

Or they might realise that your are indeed surplus to requirements & you can then start discussing redundancy. I know someone who was lost in the system during TUPE & ended up with literally nothing to do! As already suggested, redundancy is likely cheaper than continuing to pay your salary, NI & pension contributions for another 15 years.
 

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