[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