(sorry – a bit wordy)

TL;DR.
Do I throw away a well-paying, mostly WFH, job where I can ride my bike most days if I want to, for an uncertain freelance life where I’ll have to travel constantly to earn money

The back story – I started work with this company in London back in 1997. Stayed with them for various reasons, largely because of some of the people I was working with. Post ’08 financial crash, I came pretty close to a breakdown, and the missus and I hatched a plan to move up north (Sheffield) and work from home with our current co.s or quit and do it anyway. In 2011 we moved, both our employers went “erm, OK” (absolutely bizarrely) and I spent 3 days a week WFH, 2 days (ish) in the office or on site. It wasn’t without its downsides, but the upsides were huge.
I was vaguely planning to move to local employment, but it soon became obvious that I’d be taking at least a 50% paycut. Nope. So I stuck it out – sleeping on the office floor, but working with people I liked and respected and doing good gigs.

Then Covid hit.

The company, which were on dubious financial grounds anyway folded as soon as furlough ended. On the upside, redundancy cleared the mortgage.

Fast forward to March ’21 the guy who bought all the assets, including the company name off the Receivers restarted the company and reemployed some of the old staff, including me. But there’s 6 of us rather than 50; and working as a subdivision of his existing company. I’m still WFH, but less office time, and most days I can fudge a bike ride in somewhere. I’m pretty well paid (well above average national wage) and there are certain aspects of the job I very much enjoy. Others I detest.

4 of the 5 other employees were people, who whilst I wasn’t great friends with, were people I respected as good at their jobs, and I bought into the new setup on that basis. The 5th is the most senior and frankly is an idiot and who I have a massive personality clash with. She’s very good at drinking Champagne with her rich friends and getting them to spend unfeasibly large amounts of money on pointless parties, but other than that shouldn’t be let loose without a minder.

In the last month – all 4 of the other employees have announced they’re leaving – a couple have gone already without me finding out until after the fact. I’m feeling like last turkey in the shop. “Recruitment is ongoing”, is the phrase I keep hearing, but it doesn’t alter the fact that we’re going to end up with a bunch of people who, even if they’re good, will need a decent length of time to learn the detail of the job. In the meantime I’ll be expected to carry the can.

It doesn’t help that the parent company is a bit rubbish. Nice enough people, but just flaky. Lots of running round like headless chickens going “OMG I’m so busy” but not doing much to solve it and lots of reacting to “unforeseen” situations that were perfectly foreseeable with the application of a little brain power. As a result, they’re always on the back foot and playing catchup, where our reputation is based on being “The Best” and having our procedures, planning and systems dialled to a T. Drives me potty.

So I want out.

…but I’m not going to find another full-time job doing what I do (a niche role in a Londoncentric niche industry). There’s a massive shortage of freelance site staff at the moment (one of my biggest problems is sourcing freelancers to actually do the jobs), and I could earn good money doing that. 10 or 12 days a month would see me pulling in about the same wage as I’m currently on. I’d be working with my mates a lot of the time (I’ve always got on much better with our site staff than most of the full timers), and I enjoy the process of actually making something.

…but it might well involve driving 3500 miles/month to do so (mostly on my own coin) if I can’t book consecutive gigs in the same area. The standard day is 12 hrs, 18hrs a regular thing, 24+ not uncommon. Plus 6 hours travel per gig. There will be a lot of night work, so public transport doesn’t cut it. Its hard physical graft, and I’m depressingly close to 50. No holidays, no sick pay, no pension. There’s a high likelihood I’ll end up working for the same (type of) idiots, but lower down the food chain and with less control over the end results. The current political and economic situation does not fill me with great hope for the rights of the self employed…

With time, I can probably scare up some more local work, but still it’ll be Monday in Leeds, Tuesday in Manchester, Weds in Nottingham etc. Not much of a life. Equally I’m good enough to get in with the bigger companies on bigger longer gigs, but while that means less travel, it means endless hotels, crap food etc.

I’m in a decent place financially. A bit of a paycut is not a problem, but I’d resent a big one. My basic lifestyle is pretty cheap, but I like my nice bikes and my basic drive is to try and spend as much time in proper mountains (winter and summer) as possible. Which isn’t cheap. I’ve had 4 weeks in the lumpy bits of Europe this year, which has been ace – but expensive.

So I’m pretty conflicted. Feels like either option is a poo sandwich – just do I want it on white or brown? If I stay where I am I’m going to increasingly hate myself for taking the coin and will eventually end up burning bridges big style. If I go, it’ll be to uncertainty and a much more harsh lifestyle.

Thoughts…?

Joh, why did the others leave? How long can the department carry on with such a small team of permanent staff? It sounds untenable for me. I’d prepare to move on. You may not be choosing between certainty and uncertainty.

Oh, and where did the others go? Have you got in contact with them? I would.

I’d take a lot poor conditions to only have to work 10 days a month…

I can’t see a company that;

our reputation is based on being “The Best” and having our procedures, planning and systems dialled to a T

and has lost the 80% of the experienced workforce within 4 weeks will retain its reputation for very long. If it were me, my CV would be being polished up to move on.

Curiously, where have your colleagues gone? Could you al get together to start up a new company doing what you’re doing just now…?

Going Freelance can you realistically only work 10 days a month? people will want you full-time, so although on paper you could work fewer hours, reality is people will want someone who’s avaialbel everyday, however you will have the option to take breaks between contracts (maybe).

Sounds like you might not have the option of staying with your current company for that long tbh, that sounds like a fast sinking ship. Everyone is abandoning ship it seems.

You say working 10-12 days a month but what does that really equate to if you factor in travel time? Don’t forget the average working day is 8 hours plus a bit of travel. If you’re driving 3,500 miles/month don’t forget to factor in the cost of fuel, car, maintenance, depriciation etc.

You’ve paid off your mortgage so are financially in a pretty secure place. Lack of pension sick pay etc, is covered off by you charging more for your time than you were getting paid as a memeber of salaried staff.

Sounds like you need to get out of your current place before it implodes.

Being self employed wouldn’t bother me whist we had a Tory government in place.

You mention age. Can you work your arse of for 5 years and retire early, or conversely would you be able to work your 10/12 days a month for another 10/15 years?

Personally if I could live with the working hours and the physical graft then I’d go for it.

Edit: Sorry spelling is probably awful, spellcheck has stopped working!

but it might well involve driving 3500 miles/month to do so (mostly on my own coin) if I can’t book consecutive gigs in the same area. The standard day is 12 hrs, 18hrs a regular thing, 24+ not uncommon. Plus 6 hours travel per gig. There will be a lot of night work, so public transport doesn’t cut it. Its hard physical graft, and I’m depressingly close to 50. No holidays, no sick pay, no pension. There’s a high likelihood I’ll end up working for the same (type of) idiots

sounds like a complete nightmare, no amount of financial compensation would make that worthwhile for me (alright, maybe a cool mil)

Can’t you just take a massive paycut and get a low-stress, low-hassle job locally, seeing as you have no mortgage now?

I think you need to decide what’s important to you. Is it money and you have a goal in mind E.g. early retirement? In which case that’s the priority and you need to suck up the fact you’ll have to work for it. If it’s lifestyle – and especially considering you don’t have a mortgage – then you don’t need the new bikes, so suck that up and enjoy your freedom.

It’s of course possible that you have both but that’s quite rare, especially as the new boy in another company.

Either way, the red flags are there for your current employer, I’d be out or – as they might be dependant upon you – asking for a rise/new job title to mentor the new recruits if option A is your priority.

Can you actually keep to 12 – 14 days a month? I thought about doing similar but it was either full time or no job?

If you can I’d quit, you will meet more people and companies and other opportunities arise.

Hey Jon, how are you?

Not really similar as I’ve been freelance for 15+ years but I am trying to cut down to 12 days max a month. It’s been really difficult because I’m not good at saying no to customers (and they’re all good to work with, known most for years etc) plus at the back of my mind I worry if I do, they won’t ask again.

With just one of you, you have zero scale. I am either very very busy or not busy (mostly very very busy for last three years). I still feel guilty for taking ‘days off’ even tho financially I don’t need to work every day. And there is no way I’d go back to the travelling I used to do pre-covid which is a lot less than you’re talking about.

I’d still much prefer to do this than work for someone. Loyalty seems to be one way with most employers now.

Whatever you do, best of luck. I’m 5 years older than you and on my desk is a printed sign that says ‘you can buy anything but time’ 😉

Is your username your real name, or a pseudonym?

Best to be a bit careful with what you post in public as with the detail given, both you and therefore some of the other individuals mentioned in your post could be easily identified. Champagne lady might not like it.

Close to 50? If you stick it for a decade could you retire? Or at least cut your work down to a few days per month.
That’s what I’d be planning.

In the meantime I’ll be expected to carry the can.

This is the key for me.

Ultimately, this isn’t your problem. Carry on doing your job, if the workforce has been decimated and not replaced then that’s on them. If one person can do the job of six then why do they need the other five? That’s a dangerous precedence to be setting.

IF you have confidence that the business will continue then I’d ride it out with big old dose of “**** it” to all the politics. If not then, well, the alternative you’re positing I’d be looking at as “take the money and run” rather than a viable career until retirement.

Why did the others leave? Various reasons “officially” given, but none are obvious career enhancing moves. The undercurrent is a combination of “it’s not like it used to be” and frustration about trying to get things done right, first time, to the standard that we and the clients expect when dealing with the parent company who don’t really get it.

If I still lived in/near London I’d have quit years ago and been happily freelance, but its the commute from Yorkshire that’s been the delaying factor. And no moving back to near London is not happening. Over my dead body etc etc.

The freelance work would be very day by day, gig by gig. A lot of start at 17.00, work until 01.00 type stuff, but the potential for multiday projects that could be a week in a completely random location. (these longer jobs usually come with travel and accom. included). Once I’d got a few clients under my belt, I’d be reasonably happy to pick and choose what I did. It is quite seasonal – I’d be looking at very busy November/December and May/June/early July, but dead Jan/Feb/March and August.

With regards to the travel – depreciation on the current car is not an issue – its 17 years old, and I do most of my own maintenance work. In the mid-long term, the sensible thing would be to chop it in for a van that I could sleep in, so I could book 3 or 4 consecutive days in London and doss down in the yard between gigs. But Eu6 vans ain’t cheap at the mo!

Can I do the physical for a side for another 10 or 15 years? Maybe. I’m in good shape (much better than most of my co-workers), but equally – bits of me are starting to get a bit creaky.

I don’t have a goal in mind (never have had), and money is just an enabler. I’m a natural misanthrope and given the choice would probably spend a lot of time out on the hills, solo – but am self aware enough to realise that wouldn’t be a good thing long term. I want to go cool places to ride bikes, climb stuff and ideally ski, and I’m aware that the more time I have on my hands, the more cash I’m going to need to fill it, as travelling isn’t cheap. I don’t need new bikes, (in fact I very rarely buy new ones), but I rack up sufficient miles and on MTBs am sufficiently hard enough a rider that there’s a constant trickle of parts needed to keep everything working.

I suppose one other consideration which you haven’t mentioned (or I missed) – do you have a family? Sodding off for days on end at the drop of a hat is a lot more viable if you’re on your own.

Given we’re headed for a likely recession next year, i’d be staying put for the security/payoff.

If you’re going to take a leap into the unknown, its probably wait waiting for the next 12 months to pass and letting things return to some kind of normality.

I’m intrigued as to what this job is 😄

Give us a clue.