Wow! Thanks for all the thoughtful replies, everyone.
Do you have kiddos?
Everyone's different, but to me, a flexible work environment (WFH, no hassle for taking PTO, etc.) goes a LONG, LONG way. Hell, many parents of school-aged kids view work flexibility as the single biggest pro, and are willing to make sacrifices as far as salary/job excitement go. At least that's true with me and my wife.
Your OP seems to imply that maybe you have kids when you mention "understanding of family situations and stuff." Also, are you married? What does your spouse think?
If you are single and childfree, then I guess this is all irrelevant, but I thought I'd ask.
I have 1 son from a past relationship. For flexibility I would need to get him from school Fridays and take time off in the summer/holidays with him. I think both are doable at the new place. We'd only have half-day Fridays and I would have plenty of vacation time. Might be a good time to try and use some WFH-push like another poster said.
Will be married in April 2022. She is supportive either way but agrees with the basic premise of working as close to home as possible and salarymaxxing to get to FI quicker. But yep, her main concern was the flexibility. She also owns her own business and WFH 5x a week.
The two cons that jumps out at me as a red flag that should be seriously considered: WFH is discouraged, and less "chill" environment.
That's huge really, considering the last couple of years, most companies have had to go to this format and realized that it is more efficient and opens up the possibilities to dramatically change the office/workplace format and still get quality work. If the new place is the butts in seats is a priority place, then they likely will be very stuck in other areas (overly old fashioned/rigid) that are more of a detriment than your current position.
I'd take a hard look at the idea of flexibility and see about what you can change with the current place that will give you more engagement, discuss that you've had some offers (pay bump esp) without specifically telling your boss you have an offer on the table and see whether you can negotiate something that works better for you. Couldn't hurt to explore if you're already leaning towards leaving to ask them what they can change to make you happier so you don't feel like leaving anyway.
I agree with your general assessment and those have been the two things I'm most concerned about.
A few things: 1. they did WFH for over 1 year during the pandemic, however they literally said they are a "butt's in seats" company for now but are exploring options for a 1-2x a week flex environment (could just be saying that), 2. They are less chill because they are an older group and they work the full 40hrs a week, whereas now I got lucky and work under a chill boss who really just cares about results - they may too but this is the vibe I got. They work their hours and go home, not a ton of downtime at work.
I did just have my performance/year-end review and it went really well, however they're not moving me up, so I mean besides the raise and bonus I'm not sure what else I could really ask for and get away with here now.
I appreciate your input!
One mile commute is amazing! Of course the job you know will be less challenging than the job you don't know.
I would go for it, but I found WFH to be very difficult. So many distractions and I would end up working late every day. I lost alot of fitness from not getting out of the house to bike to work and just to walk around work in general. Moving up is good, raise is great and commute is amazing. You may find yourself more appreciated at new job and perhaps more room for advancement either there or at the next job. disclaimer I do nto have kids so not sure if you do or if that plays a large role in the decisions, but good luck to you, and congrats.
Thanks for that! I appreciate the insights.
As far as working from home, YMMV, but I've found that asking for forgiveness is much easier than asking for permission. After proving yourself for a while at the new company, calling or texting your boss every once in a while with a "sorry, gotta work from home this morning, meeting the plumber" while still getting work done goes a long way to creating an environment where management is used to people working from home and can make the transition to full days at home occasionally without notifying anyone a lot easier.
That's a good point, thanks for that.
Amen, don't burn the bridge but go for it if it's as "equal" as stated. Your commute time alone will be a win plus switching employers is a proven method to jump a level (or 3) overnight.
I have a sibling who worked for a labor industry business office doing HR/Office admin/Project planning.. It was maxed out at 40k/year (about 4 yrs ago). He then took a job at a mostly online based programming company doing the same admin/staff stuff with a slight pay raise. A year in they paid for him to get an MBA, then promoted to project management, with a bump in pay. A year ago he was offered a job with a (not quite, but close to double) pay raise and could work from home.. Then just recently again was snagged by another outfit with another juicy raise.
4 years ago I would never guessed he would be where he's at making the salary he does.. It's SIMILAR work to what he did 4 years ago, just making an additional 6 figures. New opportunities are scary, but can lead to some amazing changes.
Thanks for sharing that story about your sibling. Pretty cool to hear about that. When I jumped jobs 3 years ago it was scary but it has paid off as well, so far. I personally rank commuting as #1-2 on my quality of life requirements and this new commute is not great.