Should I take a buyout offer after 20 years?
Walking away from a long-term job while dealing with burnout and anger is terrifying when you have known nothing else for decades. The core difficulty is balancing the deep dread of staying against the fear of stepping into the unknown.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1taking the buyout and coasting for a few months
- 2starting a consulting gig
- 3taking a part-time job
- 4negotiating for more money or extended healthcare coverage
- 5Staying in the current fully remote role
- 6Waiting for another job offer with better flexibility
- 7Weighing the financial raise and in-person learning environment against commute and flexibility drawbacks
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Am I crazy to walk away from this job? I dread coming to work each day and I feel so much anger sometimes. A big part of me is terrified of stepping away, I've known nothing else for over 20 years.”source ↗
“I am currently an Associate 1 at a regional public accounting firm working on audit and technical accounting. I am 100% remote.”source ↗
“I got an offer at a Top 20 firm to work in their private accounting solutions working on full-accounting cycles for UHNW individuals/families. This role is 3 days in-person and will get me a ~$18,000 raise.”source ↗
“I do like the raise, but not the hybrid schedule and the exit opportunities for this position.”source ↗
“Most of my worry/issue with taking the offer is the “limited” (?) exit opportunities this job will give me.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Is a massive pay cut for startup equity worth it?
- 3Should I take an internal job transfer for more pay?
- 2Should I still do internships after getting a full-time job offer?
- 5Is a wedding reception dress actually worth it?
- 2Is this remote job offer from a big company a scam?
- 5Is newly finished contractor work actually acceptable?