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Which is better? The devil you know or the devil you don't?

C

Chris(WA)

Well-known Member
Mrs got some not so good news Friday. Her job of 10 years is being eliminated. 32 years with the same company. I was so upset that running a tractor was not enough to settle me down.(tractor reference done)
She has been offered a different position with the company but that is not a job she would have tried to get had she been looking. More stress and work load.Plus she would have to work out of home which for us means she will need to rent an office as we do not have room for a home office. She would get to keep her pay rate and benefits/vacation etc.
The alternative is to hit the bricks and track down a new job at 54.Job market around here seems pretty good but with no degree and a currently fairly high pay rate it makes it hard to jump ship.
I am sure we are not the first to be in this position so wanted to reach out to my Tractor friends to see if anyone has thoughts and experiences to share.What I am asking here is what has been your experience and what is your advice for moving forward?
 
I know you said you don't have the room, but working at home is a real nice thing. Never got to do it, but no driving, less gas and other expenses, a time saving, etc. If you could manage it somehow I would go for "work at home" , and if it isn't working out after a while she could look for another job while still working. Would this be for maybe 10 years or so before she retires?
 
50 seems to be the brick wall for employment. The 20 year old will be healthy, LESS money, can be floated around, better with computers, BUT they do not have any experience. Kinda like walmart eh.
 
If I were in your position, I would find a place in your home for her to work. Shouldn't be that difficult to isolate an area for one person to work without interuptions, unless you live in a TeePee. HeHe.
Loren
 
Space we could work out somewhere/somehow I suspect. Not ideal but could be done.

The real question is should she stay or should she try to get a new job. How much luck has anyone had getting a good paying job with her level of experience, job history and at her age.
 
She will be likely be much farther ahead to take the new position with the same company. She will have income and benefits while the dust settles. Then she can evaluating the situation and decide what to do next. She can always jump ship, a layoff or maybe an early retirement package later.
 
Working from home is awesome. I have done it now for 3 years. The company I work for is about an hour away. I used to work out of a small satellite office about 15 minute away with a couple of other guys. I was the only one left and my company wanted to stop paying rent for one guy. It caught me by surprise and I was a little ------ off for a day or so but realized I had the room at home for an office. It is great. I go into our main office once a week or so.

All I know about your wife's job and company is what is in your message. I would say she is being treated fairly with the information you gave. She has been given an opportunity to stay with the company. Companies change and jobs change. Companies get the blame but they are trying to stay in business. This has more to do with free market forces than companies being bad to people that work for them. Once she makes the adjustment to working from home she will think this is the best thing ever.
 
That's my thoughts exactly. I agree with ss55 totally...at least your wife has had fair notice and time to make a decision. The good lord gave us the abilitly to make choices but it's up to us to decide which choice will be best for us. There's good and bad with any job. It may look like more stress and work load from the outside but she may be good at it or even better than the last person who was doing it. Unemployement may not pay if she quits. Not sure how it works in other states but in Illinois it's that way.
 
I hope I do not seem unsympathetic but at least there are alternatives even if they are not what she desires. The funny thing is since the extreme drought this summer I have run through my mind all the things I wish I could have done different over the past 25 years. The answer always comes back to either farming in not a good off farm job situation in terms of area employment or move on to something far away from home, not farm, and take my chances that the job would not disappear over night. I spent nearly ten years commuting to two different jobs over 50 miles from home one way with one job being slightly above mediocre pay-wise. Where I live the employment situation peaked before I graduated high school over 30 years ago. Any place that pays decent locally a person needs to know someone on the inside to have a chance at a job.
 
ss55 hit it on the head. Take the offer . Evaluate your options going fwd. I am in the same boat you are. I will take the offer going fwd,and evaluate my options over the next 6 to 12 months. Nice to have time to think about your future. They could send you packing with nothing. Sounds as if your employee is thinking of their loyal employees. Best of luck. Chuck Machinist
 
Had the same situation 3 years ago. My wife started working for a local business in 1975. 16 years old junior in high school. Company was big on hiring to help train for the real world. Fast forward to 2013 when they closed . She worked her way up to a supervisory position and 5 years to retirement. She was lucky to get a job with the company that bought a portion of the assets. But in turn basically had to start over. Started at same salary but lost 5 weeks vacation, over 100 sick days and personal days. But does have a good benefit package. She didn't like it ,but at least she has a job.
 
This seems like the best offer ever. Stay with the company, new duties but same high pay rate and benefits, work from home? Does it get any better than that? "No room for a home office"- I see you are posting to the board, so you have a computer somewhere- presto, that's her new "office". Not to worry, I'll bet she'll let you come on the computer for awhile a couple times a day to keep up with YT. lol.

I got laid off at 48- had no luck finding comparable work (so started my own business, which has been much better- but that's just me). Maybe she can find something better, maybe not- but the key is SHE GETS TO KEEP HER JOB AND LOOK FOR OTHER WORK AT THE SAME TIME!

Its always better to look for other work from the safety of an existing job- especially if you're working from home and not worrying about the boss looking over your shoulder. Don't dither around to where they withdraw the offer, because believe me, its the best deal out there.
 
Always less stressful to look for a new job while you have one.
And they're tougher to find after 50.

I don't know what kind of work she does, so if she has to
entertain customers/accept visitors, etc home office could be
tough to pull off but if she just needs a computer and internet
access that's easy enough to set up in a small space.
A laptop with a docking station and monitor or an all-in-one.

You know what isn't easy? Motivation.
I have the option to work from home when I want to.
Normally, especially in the summer, I go into the office.

Why? There are tractors outside and, well, they're more fun!
Then there's that other thing I wanted to finish and this thing
that I've been meaning to get around to and the boss wants...
Even at our age keeping your nose to the grindstone gets tough.
 
I agree with coshoo... she should accept the newly offered job with her company.

1. It may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to her.

2. And if she doesn't like it, then she can look for a new job. I think it's usually better to seek a new job from a position of being employed rather than laid-off (especially in our 50's and older).

3. Working from home is GREAT and does not always require a separate room for an office... nor even necessarily a great deal of floor space.

I do secretarial work and have offices at my jobs - but I also often work from home. My "office" at home is a computer and printer at the bottom of the stairway in the corner of our living room. I carry a workbag with that week's needed paperwork and have a separate flashdrive for each job. (In fact, after I finish reading YT... I will be "clocking-in" to work for 2 or 3 hours tonight as I have deadlines to meet this week.)
 
I hear you. My wife is retired and I'm not, plus I work out of a home office. And that's all I'm going to say.
 
I'd say she needs to stay with the company. See how it goes, and then look for another job if she wants to.

You're far better off job hunting when you're employed than when you're unemployed. And how would she explain to a prospective employer that she'd quit even though she was offered another job with the company? That fact alone could get a lot of doors slammed in her face. (Prospective employers have a way of finding these things out). Plus, she may find out she likes her new routine.

And if she goes job hunting, don't let age be a negative. I got the best job of my life when I was 62. (Present situation in politics excepted).
 
Well, it seems the writing is on the wall. Employers are loath to let long-time employees go, particularly if they're close to retirement. Age discrimination lawsuits are too much of a hassle and expensive to settle, so they'll try to keep the employee on until they're eligible for early retirement. Assuming she has some sort of retirement package with the company, she's probably eligible to retire at 55, which means it's definitely worth sticking it out for another year or two. And 55 isn't too old to start a second career; a friend of mine retired from one employer at 55, then went right to work for a competitor the next week.

You don't say if she's been offered some sort of severance or early retirement package. That might sway things towards leaving now. Otherwise she should stick it out. Conversely, if her employer doesn't have a retirement plan, then there's no incentive for her to stick around.

I'm not a fan of working from home. Too many distractions, particularly if there are other family members home during the day. But some folks like it, and she may find she enjoys her new job. "More stress and workload" sounds like customer service, which isn't everybody's cup of tea but she might just find she likes it.
 
"I'm not a fan of working from home. Too many distractions...."
My wife is a computer programmer for the VA hospital system. (For all you computer "experts" out there, she programs in Mumps. Look it up in Wiki) She works from home and loves it. She doesn't have to put on makeup every day, doesn't need to get in the car and doesn't have all the distractions of everybody coming into her office to distract her.
Too each, their own.
 
Take the new job the company has offered. She would probably be most frustrated and unhappy if she left the company and stayed home for a couple years waiting for the phone to ring with a job offer. Better the devil that she knows.
 
My wife worked for 20+ years for a university in a research position. Was well liked and respected. Her job was getting very stressful for a number of reasons and she wanted to retire (at 63). I told her to stick it out to 65 (to get on Medicare). She continued to be miserable so I told her if she was that miserable to find another job. Figured that looking would take her mind off her then current problems. Ended up getting hired for a similar position at another place. She was ecstatic. Benefits weren't quite as good but money was a little better. Loved the job.... for about a month. Problem was that she didn't have the credibility and esteem that she had at the other place. Was looked upon as a rookie (despite her experience) and never accepted into the work cliques. They micro-manage her and constantly question everything she does. If she does something, it's "why did you do that?". If she doesn't do something, it's "why didn't you do that?" She's probably just as miserable as before but.... closer to retirement. :D

My point is that the grass is always greener on the other side and it depends upon how bad the current "devil" is as to whether a job change is worthwhile. On one hand, she'll never know unless she tests the waters, but she may end up wishing she'd have stayed.
 

Trying to find a decent job at 50 plus sux. Every place I applied at didn't even consider me- over qualified they say. IOW, they think I'm going to want a lot more than a 20 something with a degree in beer and pizza. I don't even need their healthcare or a retirement package. Not even a nibble. If I were you I'd move the bed out into the living room if I had to and make her an office. Or put the The bedroom and give her the living room. Whatever. But no way would I suggest she walk away from a good paying job with any benefits or retirement just because she has to work out of the home.
 
Chris, look at it this way.... if the job market is so tight where you live, how many people do you think would apply for the job that your wife turned down? Something to think about.
 
Sign of the times. Keep the job and see if she can stand it. At least she will be working while looking for something else if she finds she can't stand the job.
 
As another "mature" worker with a lot of time with the same company, I'd advise to take the new job. I've never worked from home as our internet connection is too slow but that would be nice to avoid a long (1 hr. on a good day) commute into the city everyday. You can find someplace for her to work in the house, doesn't have to be too fancy. And as others have advised if it isn't working out she can look for something else and still keep the salary and benefits while she's looking. Best of luck!
 
If you are working for an outfit it is usually best to stay as long as you can. Stress is all about how you handle it . Workload is what you can do without goofing off .Plain and simple there is only so much work one employee can produce. It is about keeping the paychecks coming . Not about pounding the sidewalk in a job search which can take a lot longer than expected. To me it is a no brainer . Stay.
 
Oh yea the over qualified thing , just love it . Back in 83 when the trucking industry was almost on it's donkey and at a time when you could not even BUY a load and a lot of O/O were getting out and looking for a job that is what we were being told we were over QUALIFIED to go drive for the CHEAP freight companys . They wanted dummy's that they could make them do things that drivers that had been there and done that would not do and they wanted warm body's that would live in the truck that they could control and pay them squat , even though those drivers would start turning our roads into junk yards . So companys could care less about there employee's just as long as the TOP makes there huge paycheck and bonuses .
 
Stay at her current job and look for a new position and new company.

Always easier to get a new job when you are employed.

If nothing comes up, she can stay employed where she's been for a long time. Should be some retirement vesting or something plus I hope she gets med benefits.
 
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