I'm faced with Hobson's choice - what would you do?

[LeRoux Strydom]

I never thought I would do this, but here I am seeking opinion and/or advice from a Porsche-related OT board on career issues.....

My employer decided to relocate our offices from where they were in the city, to one of our operating plants about 130 km (82 miles to the metrically challenged) away. I am now faced with 3 choices:

1. Relocate from my beautiful and comfortable home in the city to an industrial steel plant town, in the process upsetting my wife, kids in school, circle of friends, and family relations. My wife's widowed mother also stays in the city, and you know how mothers & daughters are. I have no desire myself to move house, and it would be a bad property investment move anyway.

2. I could commute the extra distance everyday with no financial compensation. This will change my usual 20 min commute from about 18km (11 mi) to 130km (82 mi) lasting about 1.5h each way. This means 3 hours on the road, all highway but about 50% of which is very slow moving. This morning it was stop/start, took me nearly 2 hours.

3. I have the opportunity to take a voluntary severance package, which at the current share price makes my share options in the company very worthwhile. I could then find another job which given my age/demographic, could take a few months. My career is not tied to my current job, and a few business opportunities are also on the horizon. I like my current job however, and would not have been considering alternatives under normal circumstances.

What would you do in this situation? What else would you take into account before making a decision? I have ruled out option 1 on family grounds. Option 2 introduces permanent hardship timewise and financially, not to mention the traffic risk. Option 3 may only be a temporary setback, but also carries financial risk. Am I being stubborn/dumb for leaning towards option 3?

LeRoux

[Willem Fick]

Le Roux,

Ouch - I assume Iscor?

Any case;

Option 1 is out, period! I assume that you are talking Vereeniging/Sasolburg/Vanderbijl, also known as lung cancer central, and the home of Frikkie Vuilnaels (South African humor...)

Option 2 is going to kill you in the long run. A friend of mine attempted that, (lived in Centurion, travelled to Vanderbijl) and it nearly meant the end of his marriage, since he ended up spending so much time on the road that he almost got estranged from his family. The added stress of spending more time than absolutely required on our taxi-infested roads also didn't help with his sanity!

If you are business minded, take option 3, get out now, and start your own with your severance. Charters are doing your job prospects no good, and in Pretoria there is no proper money in the formal sector in any case. If you aren't into the own business thing, then have a look at what's available Jo'burg/Sandton way - give me a shout I have come across a very good placement agent who managed to rescue me from Duhscovery Health not too many moons ago. (what is your occupation?)

If you want, give me a shout at wfick@firstrandbank.co.za, or 082 411 4453 - I'd like to catch up with as many SA porschephiles as possible!

Cheers!

Willem Fick

[Overpaid Slacker]

LeRoux -
There's nothing inherently dumb about being stubborn; it's the circumstances that determine whether you're being stubborn to excess, or in a "dumb" manner. Ditto "selfish."

I know next to nothing about the SA job market(s), but what I remember about Pretoria-area is that there were going to be as many opportunities in that immediate Pretoria-Jo'burg area as there were in most other areas .. possibly excepting CT. So the re-employment odds are in your favor in that region, anyway.

Take the severance, get that stress out of your life; take a break for a week or so. How integral do you think you are to your current employer? Could you perform your job "from home" or another site that's not so far away? If your career is not tied to this current job, it's worth looking for other opportunities now. Most people need a shake-up such as this to move on/up.

Good luck.

JP

[tiggy]

Do the drive.

I'm driving 70 miles each way to work for the last 4 years because we decided we didn't want to move and the kids were happy in their schools. It's hard to begin with but you do get used to it. Bear in mind I'm doing this on British roads and they're cr@p !!!!

In the summer I use the 911 once a week which gives it a good workout so go for it.

[cstreit]

I'm sure that commute will give you ulcers in the long run. How long do you have before you can take the severance?

Could you:

Make the commute for the next couple months while looking for a new job. When you find the job, take the severance.

Take the severance and negotiate a departure time of 2-3 months from now?

Work from home 2 days a week?

[mikester]

I had been doing a similar commute in California Traffic - I did it for 2 years after they moved the office from about 5 miles from my house to 50 miles. 50 miles in CA traffic can take days. I was spending at least 3 house a day on the road and it was miserable - even in the porsche. I finally had enough and started looking for another job after about a year - the market wasn't that great at the time and it took me a year to find a job that was an acceptible replacement. I really enjoyed that other job though and was a bit sad to leave it. Now except for the whole newborn thing I get plenty of sleep and I take the bus to work - It takes about 20 minutes each way and I take a little cat nap during that time most days.

Life is much better than commuting.

[chibone_914]

That's a tough one LeRoux, but I have to agree with the other guys in this case. Start job hunting NOW. Stick it out at work until they move, take the severance package and pray a lot. Your family, and friends will totally understand your circumstances and stand by you 110%

[Willem Fick]

Must agree with most - driving is simply not an option!!

Tiggy - you must come try our traffic/roads, before you go on complaining!

I did a stint in the UK a while back, and my daily commute included a section of the dreaded M25 (Reading to WGC). I actually found your road infrastructure unbelieveably good, and the average Brit motorist a dream to share the road with (no kidding!) in comparison with conditions here!

Commuting such a distance here should only be seen as a >very< temporary solution!

[nostatic]

severance. Life is too short to spend 3-4 hours a day in the car. Unless its on the track.

[Erakad]

One other option then my vote. Have you thought about renting an apartment, then commute home for the weekend? Have a neighbor that works 150 miles away doing this. I've done this too for several months. The plus is it buys you time while you look for something else without uprooting the family. The minus is you're alone/gone all week. Will they offer the severence several months down the road??

Now the vote: Take the severence. The sooner you get into another job, the sooner you get on with your life. I did the weekend thing for 3 months then cut it loose and got another job.

[LeRoux Strydom]

Guys

thanks for all the advice. Some more information: The office already moved on 5 Dec. I took 3 weeks vacation over Christmas/New Year. I have until 31 March to take the severance, after that it's gone. As I said, I am leaning heavily to taking the severance and finding something better to do with my life. I have been jobhunting since Nov last year, when the relocation was announced. The Dec/Jan period here in SA is tough for the job market, since the country pretty much shuts shop for most of Dec and half of Jan (summer holidays, think July/August in Europe). I have some interviews lined up next week already, but I'm also leaning towards finding my own thing to do.

Renting an apartment in the new town and only being home over weekends is not on. We have small kids (7, 9, 13) and I _will_ not do that to them. Besides, it will be for my own cost, and remember, I'm not being compensated for this situation at all. Aside from relocation assistance if I should decide to stay and buy a house in the new town, that is.

Willem, I'll be in touch privately.

LeRoux