This happened a little week ago and it has completely changed my perspective of my employer.
For reference I have a pretty nice tech job that pays extremely well, but my wife is a teacher so it’s like we both make an average salary when convinced. It’s been WFH since day 1 of the pandemic and the owners have said they would like to keep it that way.
I had a meeting with the big boss man last week, something they started doing periodically after a very important employee left in the beginning of the year. It’s a chance to talk about how things are going, expectations of the company, expectations of the employee, etc. The others I’ve had were very friendly and not in any way contentious. In a previous meeting I had mentioned I might move when my current lease runs out, which wasn’t exactly welcomed but I was told it probably wouldn’t be an issue unless a project came about that required being on-site. There are some projects that actually could require in-office work but the likelihood of me being assigned that project isn’t crazy high. In the meeting last week I flat out told him “We have been priced out of the are. We will be moving at the end of the lease.”
Living in South Florida we are priced out, especially considering our first child will be born soon. So that’s 3 people we need to find space for, including 2 WFH jobs and a baby. Current rents are absurd so even the 1/1 apartments in decent areas are out of our price range now. Our already crazy rent will be going up by a minimum of $1K this year so we really didn’t feel like we had much of a choice in the matter, and I was trying to inform my employer as a courtesy.
He was not exactly thrilled to hear I would be leaving the area. His advice was “Well it is cheaper to buy than rent. Have you thought about doing a 1/1 condo in [very not-nice area]? They’re very cheap and in 3-4 years you could move and rent that one.” That’s some of the worst advice I’ve ever received.
I already lived in that area for 4 years when I first started at the company. It was the only place I could afford. When I started dating my wife I wouldn’t let her walk to her car alone. I would leave to go to work and homeless people slept in the little corner right next to my front door. I could hear my neighbor scream at his family through the wall. It was a really tough 4 years and I do not want to put my wife and child through that.
I’m really torn too because I really enjoy this job. I don’t want to leave the company at all either. I’m very happy even though I know I’m underpaid. I make what should be more-than-enough in other parts of the country, which I would like to take advantage of in order to stay at my current job. It feels like that’s been taken from me now.
It was made clear that if I move I would be one of the first people gone in tough times because “the culture gets lost when people move away”. So I am 100% moving and now I’m looking for a new job. I really hate that it came to this, but i won’t force my family to sacrifice anything for that company.