Offered old job back with bonuses

[dubyateeeff]

I've been wanting to quit my job for several reasons such as salary, education and the general boredom I feel about not being challenged. So I did, for one which fixes all three issues (system development).

However I was offered my old job back because of issues I won't go into here, with a 10% higher salary than the new job (the new salary being ~45% higher than my previous salary) and 3 months salary as a bonus if I stay.

Now it will be the same job, more or less, but I am being promised the possibility of going in a different direction when all issues are fixed and I am being offered some additional responsibilities.

And due to personal problems my self confidence has almost hit rock bottom and I no longer feel like jumping on a new job either, learning new stuff, being challenged (though I will most likely be back on track when I start the new job).

I really don't know what to do. Both choices seems good.

Has anyone here had any experience with being offered their old job back with bonuses and promises?

I don't know if they genuinely will work to fix the issues I've had, just use me for a few months for documenting my work or if they really mean it. My gut feeling is that it seems genuine... but who knows, right?

 

[Davros]

since you work in system developement I take it your not exactly poor (more money is allways nice, but you can survive quite well without it)

my recomendation - your happiness is not worth 10%
ive done lots of horrible jobs just cos it was money in my pocket but i came to the conclusion that it wasnt worth being unhappy for half my wakeing life just to earn money i could spend in 10minutes

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Has anyone here had any experience with being offered their old job back with bonuses and promises?

I don't know if they genuinely will work to fix the issues I've had, just use me for a few months for documenting my work or if they really mean it. My gut feeling is that it seems genuine... but who knows, right?

It's probably just lies because you've left and they can no longer use you.

I've seen loads of people promised crazy things to get essential staff to stay/come back after leaving, and it's nearly always impossible to deliver. The reason they want you to stay is because they need you in that position, so the chances of you getting to do other things, or for the company to change their situation/direction to be able to fulfil their promises to you (which they hadn't done for the last year or two) is remote. If they could, they would have done so without you leaving.

If your work is a bad situation and has been for a long time, then they are not going to be able to change that. Moving to a better, more interesting job where you learn new things will do wonders for your self-esteem and general happiness, especially if the company has a totally different atmosphere.

Don't move back, move forwards.

 

[digitalwanderer]

They'll keep you at that nice new pay just long enough to find and train a replacement for you, I say move on.

 

[Sxotty]

They'll keep you at that nice new pay just long enough to find and train a replacement for you, I say move on.

This is not really the case necessarily.

It may be that in his field that is so, but in many many jobs this is par for the course. You get nothing really till you get an offer from someone new, then a counteroffer from the original employer. It is a very typical thing for people who don't even want to move to interview for new jobs elsewhere just to get their own employer to offer them something better.

edit:spelling fixed so it is no longer incoherent.

 

[Mintmaster]

They'll keep you at that nice new pay just long enough to find and train a replacement for you, I say move on.

Well, the 3 month bonus makes that a fairly expensive proposition for that company.

I guess it all depends on how likely dubyateeeff feels it is to find another job offer as good as the one he's considering, should you be right.

 

[Ty]

They'll keep you at that nice new pay just long enough to find and train a replacement for you, I say move on.

Man digi, you have such weird advice sometimes.


Anyhoo,

Naturally you need to look at the opportunity costs. Is the new job super cool and a rare find?

 

[digitalwanderer]

Man digi, you have such weird advice sometimes.

Sorry. When you get dicked over by enough employers you get a bit paranoid I guess.

 

[PARANOiA]

I've been in that position but declined, however I've had a colleague who moved over shortly after me and went back. It's actually a good case study for you, no doubt.

For me, staying was a very good move - my new employer treats me with respect, I get the pay I deserve without requiring a "forced" quitting to get what they should have been paying me in the first place, and I'm very soon getting a promotion that should put me ~3x what I was getting before moving over in the first place. And that's within 12 months!

For me, it really helped thinking about all the things I didn't like - the stupid hours for little personal reward, the general level of respect, and spending time with the personalities that were entrenched in that way of life making your after-work hours less enjoyable than it should have been.

As for the guy that went back, he's happy, but he'll be in the job he returned to for 18 months minimum, and has had to put up with a bit of flack! By flack I mean cheeky comments by the leadership team and his peers. But again, he's happy and enjoys the company, and left for different reasons to me.

Sounds to me like you can't go wrong... so I'd make a detailed list of all the things that you didn't like, and check off how many of them would really have changed.

Cheers

 

[_xxx_]

Move on. Your personal value in the old company is probably below that of the hired cleaners now that you resigned.

 

[L233]

First of all, fuck them. If you have no problem getting a new job offer with a 45% higher salary, what does that tell you? It tells you that your current employer has been seriously underpaying you and therefor showed little appreciation for your work that is, obviously, worth a lot more.

I've seen this quite often. Employers who are trying to save a couple of thousand € a year and ending up losing extremely valuable employees simply by being stingy. I am surprised that managers are rarely held accountable for losing good employees. No doubt they get a fat bonus payments for keeping costs low. To me it's clear that the primacy of cost-thinking can often be disatrous in areas that depend on highly qualified labour.

Then there is the issue of trust that _xxx_ hinted at. It probably pissed them off that you resigned and forced them to offer you more money. That means that, if push comes to shove, your standing within the company is probably very low. That's not a good place to be in.

 

[Scott_Arm]

I'd say move on. I'm currently in the situation you had with your old job, and your happiness is not worth the extra salary. You'll be much happier in a workplace that challenges you. I've been promised so many things, and none of them have ever panned out. I'd be very skeptical about any promises from your old job, in terms of development and opportunities. They already had their chance and they fucked it up. Save yourself some happiness and give someone else a chance, if you've done your research on them and they seem to be a good fit.

 

[Sonic]

Sounds like the new job would be better for career aspirations as well. You'll be learning something new (acquiring new skills) and there may be much better growth opportunities with the new company as well.

The old company sounds like they really need you in that position and you're a vital part of the company. It's a shame they didn't realize that before hand or else you might not have ended up looking elsewhere.

Best advice I can give is to use companies as they use employees. Get what you can out of the and then move on to something better and more fulfilling. If you ever find yourself in a spot where you love your job and they love you, well you struck gold.

I myself have no company loyalty. They write a paycheck and give some benefits. I produce work for them. It's as simple as that. Then again....when you're the one writing the paychecks it is good to let your employees know you love them. It's not unheard of for me to pay 20% above median salary just to keep employees I find extremely valuable. It's also good to give benefits like 20 paid days off a year, 10 sick days, and 4 floating holidays, as well as an optional vacation package where the company pays for a week's vacation at sweet places in cali.

But for you. Follow your heart and what makes you happy. This last company should have resolved issues a long time ago. They didn't and now realize they're in deep shit. Let them dig their way out of it. Keep on climbing that ladder you're on right now. (Not the corporate ladder I Hope!)

 

[suryad]

L233 has an awesome point. I would move on. A lot of the other posts here also echo the same sentiment. I would move on and so should you. In fact I am moving on from my current job even though they said they would give me all this stuff etc etc I just want to do something different and foward my career. I dont think that will happen at this place.

 

[Davros]

See everyone agrees with me

There is one job I would of liked to go back to, just to see the boss's face when he would of been forced to give me a 400% pay rise because the goverment introduced a national minimum wage

 

[dubyateeeff]

I've talked with some people at work it seems like I won't just get my old tasks back but also added responsibility and be able to move on to new techs/apps. And they have made a genuine effort to fix the issues I've had.

Don't move back, move forwards.

As I am writing and rewriting this I am going back and forth about staying and not staying (been editing it for +2 hours).

It is a very typical thing for people who don't even want to move to interview for new jobs elsewhere just to get their own employer to offer them something better.

I can say this, before they got themselves in this situation, that wouldn't have worked.

I guess it all depends on how likely dubyateeeff feels it is to find another job offer as good as the one he's considering, should you be right.

Getting that much salary, possible. The rest slim. This is a cross road for me.

First of all, fuck them. If you have no problem getting a new job offer with a 45% higher salary, what does that tell you?

They were fuckers once

It seems like I have two good options. I'll hardball them just for the heck of it.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Geo]

Do you like some of the people still? Are there at least a few people you enjoy working with and get to spend time with? Is the end result worthwhile in some respects? What I mean by that, is do you feel you've done something worth doing?

Some years ago, my boss and my boss's boss got fired under circumstances that I really felt terrible about. There'd been a political struggle between the parent company and the subsidiary, and part of it centered around the role I was playing as an interface between them. Who would "own" that position? Where should the loyalties lie of the person who held that position? That kind of thing. I'd been used as a pawn, people I cared about got hurt, and I was very annoyed.

So, I went home and stewed. That night I took home everything personal of mine from the office. I wanted to be able at a moment's notice to walk out of there with nothing more than my briefcase. I refused to allow a "perp walk" kind of scenario to develop where I'd have to be escorted out by HR carrying one of those stupid cardboard boxes in my arms of personal posessions that everyone would recognize as an employee being terminated.

I was also making a bit of a statement to management that I was more than ready to go too.

That night my old boss called me at home and in a long conversation convinced me that I didn't need to fall on my sword, or screw the company, on her account. That she appreciated my loyalty to her, but she very much wanted me to do what I felt was best for me and she'd completely support whatever decision I made in that respect.

So, the next day I went to work and called the CEO into my office. In retrospect, that probably sounds like I had big balls. . . but not really. It just meant I really didn't give a shit anymore which way it went and was completely and totally not bluffing. I told him that what had happened was very demoralizing to me and all things considered I felt that if they'd fired my boss they should fire me too. . .and I was requesting that he do so.

So, what happened?

I got a big immediate bonus, I moved to another state a few months later, I work for them from home (my morning commute is down two flights of steps) and they've paid me well over half a million dollars in the few years since then with no sign of any end to the relationship in sight.

So, y'know, it *can* work out in the longer term after one of these crises. . . .