The reduction is about 10%, but there are more bits to it.
I can earn the 10 weeks (standard) if I stay until the end of June. I can earn an extra 6 weeks If I stay until the end of July.
And as for the staying on in a reduced role - I have effectively been given a month to make a decision on that. The company itself doesn’t know yet what that could entail or what their plan is so they will know that in a month, and so I’ll be able to say yes or no in a months time.
I am pretty sure I’ll stay til July (extra 6 weeks of redundancy pay). The ten percent reduction is still a pretty decent sallary, but I’d be working under someone who I’ve previously out-ranked. And I’m not sure I rate them as a Manager. At the moment I’m still leaning towards a No on that, especially given the amount of time I have to be looking for another job.
The problem with a third option is there is a risk I’ll just languish in the reduced role, being obliged to look for another job but never really actually doing it properly.
Much appreciation for the replies and advice given so far
Start looking for another job today. TODAY I tell you. You need to find out how hard it will be, and you have 30 days to see what that’s like. You can not make this decision responsibly unless you use these 30 days to find out exactly what the job search will entail.
I’m coming back here in two days to ask if your resume is complete yet. Don’t make me embarrass you.
You have to do this, and do it ASAP. It will help you get signed up with placement agencies, polish your resume, find out who you know in the business, etc. but without all the pressure of OMG OMG OMG I NEED A JOB.
It also has the advantage of setting you as a first-rounder for many of the post-vacation jobs. Many sectors hire a lot of people to start in September or October; agents will look at their databases to find “people with those skills that I have now listed as ‘available’” first; second, “people with those skills listed as ‘not currently available’”; actually posting ads is often not done until the first round has come up blank.
If your field is sort of narrow (not the kind of thing where you’ll have 600 candidates for a single position), sending your resume to agencies that you see posting ads similar to what you’re interested in/can do will get you in the database. Sometimes you end up getting an offer for a job which doesn’t look like an exact fit but where the hiring manager considers you’ll grow into the post.
Also keep in mind that you are probably not the only one being given the options. You want to be the first one ont he job market, before the crush of your former co-workers arrive to compete with you.
And I have nobody else to compete with in the dept being outsourced. It was a small team, two are being kept because they had cross-purposes in two depts and the other dept is being kept. Another resigned recently and already has a job to go to, and the last person was at the bottom of the rung.
Not that I’m being complacent. It goes without saying that I’ll be trying to be the best person for any particular position I apply for.
I do have that in the back of my mind. On the other hand - the fact that they even offered the stay-on role suggests that I have something they want to keep. I did many ‘advanced’ roles outside my job description. I looked after a company intranet. I provided highly specific reports to management and call center staff utilizing sql skills (and php if it was an intranet based thing)
Also, if after this extra six (or whatever) month period they didn’t need me, I’d still get a severance package. Just wanted to point that out.
Having said that. I’ll almost certainly be turning down any offered stay-on role.
