Considering a job change in this climate

jonathanc8888

About few weeks ago I started a process of seeking another job.
I wasn't really in the market but was approached by recruiter with a very interesting and detailed job spec.
I'm in the final stage of interviews and if it goes well I'm looking at a potential job offer which will see an increase of about £10-15k gross in my salary.
My concern is that the current economy doesn't seem to be doing too well. I've been with my current employer for 4+ years and if I do accept the offer I will be starting with a new company without the protection of rights with minimum of 2 years employment history.
What would you do in this situation?
The company is a subsidiary of a very large multinational however the department I'm joining is really small. It will be a 2 men team with me supporting and covering the existing person.

JReacher1

For a £10 - 15k salary jump I would take the job.
You could live on your old salary amount and save the extra so if you do lose your job in 6 months you've got a bit of money saved up.

DCFC79

Why not go for it, you have to look out for number 1. 

JayRitchie

There are risks either way. Is your current job that secure - meaning civil service, NHS, local government etc?

TELLIT01

JayRitchie said:

There are risks either way. Is your current job that secure - meaning civil service, NHS, local government etc?

I don't know why you think jobs in the civil service or local government are secure.  That may have been the case many years ago, but certainly not any more.  I worked for the civil service for 7 years and at least 30 people from an office of about 200 were made redundant in that time.  15% job losses doesn't count as secure in my book.

JayRitchie

TELLIT01 said:

JayRitchie said:

There are risks either way. Is your current job that secure - meaning civil service, NHS, local government etc?

I don't know why you think jobs in the civil service or local government are secure.  That may have been the case many years ago, but certainly not any more.  I worked for the civil service for 7 years and at least 30 people from an office of about 200 were made redundant in that time.  15% job losses doesn't count as secure in my book.

Those are better odds than any business I've worked for (although a lot of people leave before being pushed). My understanding is that the CS gives good severance pay - as such years of service are not to be taken lightly.

TELLIT01

JayRitchie said:

TELLIT01 said:

JayRitchie said:

There are risks either way. Is your current job that secure - meaning civil service, NHS, local government etc?

I don't know why you think jobs in the civil service or local government are secure.  That may have been the case many years ago, but certainly not any more.  I worked for the civil service for 7 years and at least 30 people from an office of about 200 were made redundant in that time.  15% job losses doesn't count as secure in my book.

Those are better odds than any business I've worked for (although a lot of people leave before being pushed). My understanding is that the CS gives good severance pay - as such years of service are not to be taken lightly.

Your understanding is out of date.  Severance pay is no better than any other employer for the vast majority of staff.  Standard redundancy terms apply.  The fat cats at the top may get huge payouts, but not most.

strawb_shortcake

TELLIT01 said:

JayRitchie said:

TELLIT01 said:

JayRitchie said:

There are risks either way. Is your current job that secure - meaning civil service, NHS, local government etc?

I don't know why you think jobs in the civil service or local government are secure.  That may have been the case many years ago, but certainly not any more.  I worked for the civil service for 7 years and at least 30 people from an office of about 200 were made redundant in that time.  15% job losses doesn't count as secure in my book.

Those are better odds than any business I've worked for (although a lot of people leave before being pushed). My understanding is that the CS gives good severance pay - as such years of service are not to be taken lightly.

Your understanding is out of date.  Severance pay is no better than any other employer for the vast majority of staff.  Standard redundancy terms apply.  The fat cats at the top may get huge payouts, but not most.

15 months pay for voluntary redundancy and 12 months for compulsory. Where I work they'd push for voluntary before compulsory. The attrition rate has been quite high of late so redundancies unlikely to happen as things stand. 

Dox

jonathanc8888 said:

About few weeks ago I started a process of seeking another job.
I wasn't really in the market but was approached by recruiter with a very interesting and detailed job spec.
I'm in the final stage of interviews and if it goes well I'm looking at a potential job offer which will see an increase of about £10-15k net in my salary.
My concern is that the current economy doesn't seem to be doing too well. I've been with my current employer for 4+ years and if I do accept the offer I will be starting with a new company without the protection of rights with minimum of 2 years employment history.
What would you do in this situation?
The company is a subsidiary of a very large multinational however the department I'm joining is really small. It will be a 2 men team with me supporting and covering the existing person.

You say your net pay will increase by £10-15K. That's a huge 'variation' in gross salary. Although you don't say how much you are earning now, it is presumably a very substantial %age increase? If so, ask yourself why a potential employer is willing to pay so much - and why the salary boundaries appear to be so vague. Are you really that valuable/do you have specific skills they really need; or is there a high risk this tiny department has no real future/career development?

Not having the employment protections you get after two years of employment probably doesn't matter that much, unless you are made redundant or simply sacked because they decide you aren't what they want. If you negotiate a good period of notice on their part but preferably not on yours, that overcomes that hurdle. What else bothers you about having sub-two years' service?

As to what anyone else would do in this situation - work out your priorities and how well the change of job would sit with them.

jonathanc8888

JayRitchie said:

There are risks either way. Is your current job that secure - meaning civil service, NHS, local government etc?

It's with a limited company and to be honest I do have some concerns over job security lately.
I don't really like to change jobs however having some doubts at the moment.

jonathanc8888

Jsacker said:

jonathanc8888 said:

About few weeks ago I started a process of seeking another job.
I wasn't really in the market but was approached by recruiter with a very interesting and detailed job spec.
I'm in the final stage of interviews and if it goes well I'm looking at a potential job offer which will see an increase of about £10-15k net in my salary.
My concern is that the current economy doesn't seem to be doing too well. I've been with my current employer for 4+ years and if I do accept the offer I will be starting with a new company without the protection of rights with minimum of 2 years employment history.
What would you do in this situation?
The company is a subsidiary of a very large multinational however the department I'm joining is really small. It will be a 2 men team with me supporting and covering the existing person

Not wanting to get into an economy discussion too much, but some companies are more resilient than others when it comes to surviving in tough circumstances. This Coronavirus stuff is impacting on some markets right and I'd expect the better companies to get through that (it will either die down in a month or so or wreak absolute havoc across all sectors). A few MIGHT go under, and a few might be on their way out irrespective of the current climate. It's all about trying to gauge the longevity of a company, to be fair. Also helps if your role is specialised, as cuts USUALLY begin with the staff at the bottom of the trough (much like how banks have started to close their branches, and bookmakers etc). A specialist role may protect you from a cull to some extent. Plus, you must consider your CURRENT job in the same vein; if the "current economy doesn't seem to be doing too well" then that could actually result in you being made redundant in the worst-case scenario. You get protection with >2 years employment, but it isn't a great amount...

I would suggest that you ask a few questions of the prospective employer. You are in a strong position insofar that you have a job. Asking a few questions about how the company is performing, what their plans are and how recent events are affecting them etc are perfectly reasonable, in my opinion. An interview is actually a two-way street.

Many thanks for the helpful insight. It's definitely very helpful advice. Your last sentence really resonated with me.
Your suggestion of asking about impact of recent events is also a good one, I did think of this however not too sure if asking about company performance is something you do in an interview. 

I did think of pulling out of the process but it would be a waste of opportunity seeing that the prospective employer is very accommodating and from what the recruiter said seems to be very interested in my profile. I haven't mentioned anything about the prospective new role to current work yet. I do feel very guilty as my line manager is really good to me however as other posted said, sometimes I have to look after myself and my family.

If I do get a job offer I would probably have a chat with my line manager first, instead of just handing notice in. Ideally there would be a counter offer plus some progression opportunities on the table. I have been proactively undertaking tasks that are "above my pay grade" and have demonstrated that I'm capable, so hopefully there are some opportunities with current company. 

I'll be in a very small team (possibly 2 men team) but it's a large multinational company with in house HR etc which in a way should provide some reassurances (current company doesn't have an official HR department). Also heard from recruiter that the last few people he placed there are still there after 6 years.

However it all depends on what happens in the second interview.