Voluntary redundancy....should I/shouldn't I...

[Brian Fantana]

Hello - after some advice / opinions... We've been offered voluntary redundancy at work. For the past year I've been wanting to leave, and now the opportunity to leave has come up with the chance of a nice payoff.

However - as the deadline for deciding draws nearer and having not secured a job for late April after I would have left, I'm finding myself starting to falter and consider staying put...

If I did take the redundancy it'd be an excellent chance to pay off some debts and HOPEFULLY get a job I enjoyed more than the one I'm in. Also, it's quite likely that the place I'm working at will be making some compulsory redundancies later this year or next year and the terms will not be as good as those they're offering us now and I'd be kicking myself for not taking it on the better terms.

Basically this all comes down to fear of the unknown! There's potential for things to go my way and it's all good, or on the flipside I find it really hard to get in to another job and start to really struggle...

I'm currently thinking it's the right time to take a risk and take the payoff (no wife, kids, mortgage etc) and try to get in to something else....but absolutely stting it!

[Stu R]

Do it. Put on your big boy pants, cast aside your fear of the unknown, and use the potential unemployment in the not too distant future as motivation to find something else after you've blown the cash.

[Deva Link]

You're not a civil servant, are you?

The boss of the Department my wife works in told them (in writing) that this was a great chance to get the money for a deposit on a house. To get a house deposit sized payoff people would have to to be in their 40's and quite how people with no job can get a mortgage wasn't covered in his memo.

[rvttim]

All depends on what your industry is, and what the pay out is. I got made redundent 2 years ago with a years salary tax free.
Im in the construction industry.
Went self employed and all the rates have gone really low. Contracts are now far and few so jumped into a cards in job with less pay than I was on 4 years ago and lost company car, phone etc. But its a job and some money is better than none.
The redundancy money will not last you as long as you think.

So unless you are sure or sure of employment be carefull

[Kudos]

What line of work are you in? How confident are you in finding something else?

At least if you were redundant you can at least look for a new role fulltime.

I got made redundant in 2001 during the dotcom bust in Ireland. Made redundant on a Tues at 4pm with 6 months tax free salary, made a couple of calls that evening. Took Wed off, started a new contract on the thurs. Redundancy paid deposit for my house

[SplatSpeed]

volountary is allways more than enforced

[DJC]

Its scary as hell and when I did it I walked away with basically £25k tax free. It was also one of the best things Ive ever done.

If the sum is comfortably into 5 figures then I would say take the chance.

[Flibble]

Something to consider is that the job centre and most, if not all, insurance companies consider voluntary to be the same as resigning. You might find you won't get any mortgage protection and you won't be able to sign on for months. I'd only take voluntary if the payoff was significantly over the compulsory sum, or I had a new job to walk into.

[Chilli]

It all depends on the size of the cheque. I left the City with a year's salary...wished I'd done it sooner, tis a big world out there!

[KenBlocksPants]

As above, depends on the following:

Industry / job you are in
Size of the cheque


I would 'confidently' say I would get another job prety quickly in my specialist industry. So I'd be taking the money and moving on.

If you are a steel worker in sheffield or a public servant in Hartlepool... i'd be considering my options more carefully.

All depends on your outlook on your skills and experience. Do you feel employable or a bit out of touch with modern skills?

[Brian Fantana]

Thanks for all the responses! I feel pretty confident about getting "something" to tide me over - but I'm looking in to doing a college course, leading to a degree which will lead me in a totally different direction from what I am / have been doing.

Exciting & scary times, with potential for the next 4 years to be a total ballache. An excellent way to enter in to my 30's

Unfotunately this means the GTV V6 I was plotting to get will be on the back-burner...maybe an MX5 in a year or so!

[Munter]

Brian Fantana said:

Thanks for all the responses! I feel pretty confident about getting "something" to tide me over - but I'm looking in to doing a college course, leading to a degree which will lead me in a totally different direction from what I am / have been doing.

Exciting & scary times, with potential for the next 4 years to be a total ballache. An excellent way to enter in to my 30's

Unfotunately this means the GTV V6 I was plotting to get will be on the back-burner...maybe an MX5 in a year or so!

Not that it matters in any real way. But using redundancy money to invest in training / a degree is the sort of action that gains my respect. (And hopefully the respect of future employers) As opposed to sitting around waiting for an identical job to turn up.

Best of luck!

[Marf]

Stu R said:

Do it. Put on your big boy pants, cast aside your fear of the unknown, and use the potential unemployment in the not too distant future as motivation to find something else after you've blown the cash.

Best thing that ever happened to me workwise.

Was it worrying stepping out of a job with nothing to go to? Yes, absolutely, but now I'm in a better, more interesting job with better prospects, and the payout helped respray my car and replace my aged kitchen.

Edited by Marf on Thursday 10th March 18:02