Hi everyone. I'm a long time lurker from the Jacob baton-passing days. I'm at an important decision point this weekend and could use some like-minded advice. I thought the MMM community might be able to lend a hand?
Current situation:Sr Programmer, $90.9k with a 0-20% EOY bonus (not sure how reliable it is yet). I started this job last fall. I work at home 85% of the time and travel to a distant city via plane every 8 weeks. I'm not fond of air travel but have gotten used to it. The insurance plans are solid and reasonably priced. The company is enormous financially and very old/stable.
I'm working on an older version of the enterprise software that I develop on/with. I was told when I was hired last fall that I would be participating in an upgrade to the latest & greatest version, a valuable piece of experience in my niche. This upgrade has been indefinitely delayed, although it certainly will happen at some point. Also, when I agreed to employment, there was an 8% 401(k) match that was "suspended" at the beginning of the year. My boss stated (guessed?) that the match may be reinstated eventually and may even be retroactive.
I freelance with a contract that I value at $7k annually, and I value highly the long term business relationship that I've had with this company. It's one of my safety nets - "no matter what happens, I can have a job here tomorrow" - type situation.
With the 401(k) match suspension, the postponed upgrade, and a paltry 1% raise, I started listening to recruiters. Besides these 3 reasons, I am very happy where I'm at right now.
New offer:Programmer, $108k with a 5-15% bonus (I'd guess that the bonus is more reliable than my current situation). Small company, < 20 employees. 3% Simple IRA match. I would work at home 85-95% of the time, so potentially less travel (good!). Usually, I'd have a 6 hour car ride (mileage reimbursed / possibly a rental), which I'd probably prefer to the ~8 hour airport rigmarole.
The business is solid, with a strong balance sheet and cash flow. Growth is exploding and has a long way to run. They "need to fill in the shoes" they're wearing and recently received a capital injection, hence the strong recruitment. There's a small but non-negligible risk of being bought out, probably resulting in layoffs. I'm not really concerned about that scenario because I'd likely receive a generous severance and find a job the next day.
I'd be developing on the absolute cutting edge, expanding my skill set exponentially with exposure/training in new and highly valuable languages that I'd never see at my current position. I'd also be working primarily in product development, with some client exposure, instead of being part of the ol' IT cost center fun. My professional network would also grow rapidly.
Negatives:
- Simple IRA instead of 401k, so a loss of $5,500 in annual tax sheltering. Let's call it a $1,400 annual cost. Also worse investment options, but probably not too drastic (Vanguard > Fidelity).
- Insurance plans are comparable, but cost $960 more annually
- I'd lose the $7k/yr contract and would not be allowed to freelance with anyone during my employment. My bridge / safety net would be damaged (50%?) but not destroyed. The positive side of this point is that I would gain ~140 hours annually by not doing this extra work on the side.
- PTO would drop from 22 days to 10/12/15/20 in first/second/fourth/fifth years.
- I negotiated half of the salary increase because of the loss of my contract and the subpar time off. I also negotiate the fifth year 20 day PTO bump. I'm a bit concerned that salary growth will be constricted because of this negotiation. I'd address that concern with the CEO/owner if I continue negotiations. Offsetting that concern a little bit is the fact that my skillset and value would grow rapidly. They'd be insane to invest in my training, expose me to these new technologies, and not increase my salary in my blazing-hot job market.
- The work would be significantly more intense and demanding than what I currently do. My hours would likely increase by 5-7 per week.
My thoughts:It sure is tempting. I calculate the net benefit to be ~$10k annually with an equal Real Wage per Hour. This moves my freedom date up from ~12 years to ~9-10 years remaining. My wife is very hesitant to give up the PTO and for me to log the extra hours per week. I'm mostly in agreement with her and even completely declined the second offer, citing the PTO, since further negotiations seemed to have stalled. She also has a "gut feeling" that I should hold out for better offers, e.g. a better 401(k) match, more PTO, and perhaps even 100% remote work. I agree slightly with her gut feeling but am excited about the possibilities of this organization.
After my "final" rejection, the CEO/owner called to ask me to reconsider over the weekend. They
really want me on board. During this call, I also gained the fifth year PTO bump. He explained his thought processes for the second offer, and I said I would think it over. But I'm at a stand-still in my mind. I can't decide.
If I still decline, I'd probably shut down my job search for the rest of the year to collect my EOY bonus and see if current conditions (software upgrade / 401k match) improve. I also have a much anticipated 2 week staycation scheduled for October, and am curious about the possibility of other opportunities popping up.
Thoughts? Questions? Advice? I'd really appreciate any perspectives that are offered.