Should I stay or should I go now?
March 9, 2016 5:45 AM Subscribe
I'm not ambitious - but maybe I should be?
I'm admin staff at a small business. Lately, due to severe economic issues in our region, our small business has made cutbacks to staff wages and has been unable to make payroll (asked to hold off on check depositing for a week). These issues are generally widespread in the region, with high unemployment rates and long waits for social assistance for loss of employment.
I really enjoy my job - I'm wholly unambitious (lots of stuff to do in my spare time, believe me, I have a metric ton of hobbies [none of which I want to monetize, please do not suggest that I look for a job in my hobby niches, I do not want to]) - and I would be happy to stay here for fifty years doing the same job, and retire here. But obviously warning signs are flashing...
...Except that my family is currently going through some incredibly stressful legal and medical issues. Really bad. We're soldiering through it, but I know for a fact that switching jobs - being the new person on staff, waiting through three months of probation - would add a whole other level of stress to the already extraordinary levels of stress I'm under, levels of stress that have already strained every single coping mechanism I have to their utter limits, and I expect this stress to be ongoing for at least this next year. Plus, I do have some flexibility in my current position with regards to medical and legal appointments, which a new job wouldn't afford me...
...Except that I cannot be unemployed right now, and if I were unemployed, couldn't claim social assistance during that time. No way, no how, can't do it. It would literally be catastrophic for every already stressful issue ongoing, so if my current employer did fold, I would be beyond screwed. Plus, as I'm sure everyone knows, it is much harder to find a job when unemployed. I am at a disadvantage in a region where many formerly employed persons are also job-searching, and most of them have university education I don't.
I honestly don't know what to do. Keep job searching? Sit and hold and hope this job stays solvent until the region surfaces from massive economic depression?
I'm admin staff at a small business. Lately, due to severe economic issues in our region, our small business has made cutbacks to staff wages and has been unable to make payroll (asked to hold off on check depositing for a week). These issues are generally widespread in the region, with high unemployment rates and long waits for social assistance for loss of employment.
I really enjoy my job - I'm wholly unambitious (lots of stuff to do in my spare time, believe me, I have a metric ton of hobbies [none of which I want to monetize, please do not suggest that I look for a job in my hobby niches, I do not want to]) - and I would be happy to stay here for fifty years doing the same job, and retire here. But obviously warning signs are flashing...
...Except that my family is currently going through some incredibly stressful legal and medical issues. Really bad. We're soldiering through it, but I know for a fact that switching jobs - being the new person on staff, waiting through three months of probation - would add a whole other level of stress to the already extraordinary levels of stress I'm under, levels of stress that have already strained every single coping mechanism I have to their utter limits, and I expect this stress to be ongoing for at least this next year. Plus, I do have some flexibility in my current position with regards to medical and legal appointments, which a new job wouldn't afford me...
...Except that I cannot be unemployed right now, and if I were unemployed, couldn't claim social assistance during that time. No way, no how, can't do it. It would literally be catastrophic for every already stressful issue ongoing, so if my current employer did fold, I would be beyond screwed. Plus, as I'm sure everyone knows, it is much harder to find a job when unemployed. I am at a disadvantage in a region where many formerly employed persons are also job-searching, and most of them have university education I don't.
I honestly don't know what to do. Keep job searching? Sit and hold and hope this job stays solvent until the region surfaces from massive economic depression?
Keep job searching. Best case - your current company does better and you get a great offer from another organization. Then you get to choose your own adventure. That doesn't happen if you cross your fingers and hope things will improve at your current gig. It's okay to be perfectly happy and comfortable in your current position but if the company isn't doing well, you're in a precarious position. Even if your job is critical to the organization, odds are they can find someone to do it cheaper or divide up your responsibilities between current employees and supplement with a new part-timer. I hope that doesn't happen but it could and that's why you should seriously work on your plan B.
Also, starting over somewhere new is challenging but it's not that bad. Hopefully you choose where you go next so you can screen for crazies. And if they made you an offer and hired you, they clearly want you there, which is a pretty good feeling. They could have chosen to hire someone else but they chose you and you chose them - that's empowering. Sure, neither of you know each other's quirks yet but you'll figure them out. I've found in general that getting a new job is an empowering experience. It reminds me that I have some control over my life.
posted by kat518 at 6:21 AM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, starting over somewhere new is challenging but it's not that bad. Hopefully you choose where you go next so you can screen for crazies. And if they made you an offer and hired you, they clearly want you there, which is a pretty good feeling. They could have chosen to hire someone else but they chose you and you chose them - that's empowering. Sure, neither of you know each other's quirks yet but you'll figure them out. I've found in general that getting a new job is an empowering experience. It reminds me that I have some control over my life.
posted by kat518 at 6:21 AM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Just wanted to add - the downsides you gave for not looking for a new gig are that 1) you like your current job and 2) starting over is stressful. The downside you gave for staying at your current job is that the company isn't doing well. If you look for a new job, you're not obligated to take the first one you find. You can find a new job that you like as much or more than your current job. And starting over is stressful but you might have to start over anyway if your current organization fails.
Most importantly, in my opinion, starting-a-new-job stress is a lot different from and preferable to my-company-collapsed-and-now-I'm-unemployed stress. Especially when the latter has been preceded by the stress of being asked not to cash checks for a week, two weeks, a month, having your position changed to part-time or your hours cut, losing benefits, seeing your colleagues struggle, all while the company tries to stay afloat. Maybe your current organization will make it - I hope they do - but working for a struggling organization is stressful, especially when you feel like you don't have other options. Applying for new jobs is your best bet to find other options.
Basically, I don't see the downside to applying for a new gig but I totally see the downside in not applying. Good luck!
posted by kat518 at 6:36 AM on March 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Most importantly, in my opinion, starting-a-new-job stress is a lot different from and preferable to my-company-collapsed-and-now-I'm-unemployed stress. Especially when the latter has been preceded by the stress of being asked not to cash checks for a week, two weeks, a month, having your position changed to part-time or your hours cut, losing benefits, seeing your colleagues struggle, all while the company tries to stay afloat. Maybe your current organization will make it - I hope they do - but working for a struggling organization is stressful, especially when you feel like you don't have other options. Applying for new jobs is your best bet to find other options.
Basically, I don't see the downside to applying for a new gig but I totally see the downside in not applying. Good luck!
posted by kat518 at 6:36 AM on March 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Looking for a new job and going to interviews when you already have a job you love puts you in a totally different league to someone who's unemployed and desperate. Start looking now, while you still hold some cards.
posted by Dwardles at 6:44 AM on March 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Dwardles at 6:44 AM on March 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
Which is going to be more stressful to you - starting a new job or being without a job or any kind of income at all? A business being unable to pay its own staff is a HUGE red flag. It means that the business is living paycheque to paycheque, and anyone who has ever tried that will tell you it's not sustainable long term, especially when the paycheques arrive too late.
You might soon have no choice about being unemployed, for all the fact it "cannot happen". Do whatever you need to do to keep money coming in, and if that means taking a not-so-great job that enables you to pay your bills and keep a roof over your head then take it. It's better than being unemployed.
posted by Solomon at 11:21 AM on March 9, 2016
You might soon have no choice about being unemployed, for all the fact it "cannot happen". Do whatever you need to do to keep money coming in, and if that means taking a not-so-great job that enables you to pay your bills and keep a roof over your head then take it. It's better than being unemployed.
posted by Solomon at 11:21 AM on March 9, 2016
Keep sending out resumes. You don't have to make the decision to switch jobs until you have a valid offer from somewhere else.
posted by anti social order at 12:33 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by anti social order at 12:33 PM on March 9, 2016
It's better to interview for jobs on your own terms than to wait for them to give you the axe. Worst case scenario, you don't find a new job that appeals to you, and you eventually get the axe anyway. Best case scenario, you find a better job with more pay. Median case scenario, you find an okay job and get out before your coworkers flood the market.
posted by deathpanels at 1:17 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by deathpanels at 1:17 PM on March 9, 2016
I will be blunter than others in this thread.
No business survives not being able to payroll. Your employer is effectively bankrupt.
Find a new job, now. You will need to do some whether you want to or not some time in the next 2-3 months. You might as well do it on your own terms now.
posted by saeculorum at 10:06 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
No business survives not being able to payroll. Your employer is effectively bankrupt.
Find a new job, now. You will need to do some whether you want to or not some time in the next 2-3 months. You might as well do it on your own terms now.
posted by saeculorum at 10:06 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
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If your current job were stable with no requests to hold paychecks, I'd be the first one to advise staying there until retirement. But that's not the case. You really should be a tiny bit worried about it. You may not get a warning or notice about not having a job. You may just arrive to work one morning to a sign on the door saying the business folded.
You're right, the warning lights are flashing.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:54 AM on March 9, 2016 [11 favorites]