Job change to reduce commute but I still like my job and company?

I have worked for the same company for 18 years and counting. It's honestly the first job I have ever felt like staying at and it wasn't for the pay.

Right around COVID I took the opportunity to manage one of the branch locations. My manager at the time was doing a terrible job and I felt like my expertise was being wasted in a lower position anyway. So I spoke with the owner and offered up a plan for me to fix the situation by letting me take the reins of the problem child office. The biggest downside of this whole idea was that it created a larger commute. At the time me and the wife agreed it was a step in the right direction and we would just figure it out. For the first couple years it wasn't bad since most folks weren't commuting to work yet, but things are progressively getting worse.

My house is on a good day 36 minutes away and on bad days 45-60 minutes. Our growth in the area is getting bigger and bigger. Which means traffic isn't getting any better. More often than not worse. My sanity is being tested weekly and every few months I tell myself it may be time to start looking for something closer to home.

The problem with that is I love my job. Sure there are days where my patience is tested and things are stressful, but for the most part I run a well oiled machine. I've gotten way better with people management and expectations. I've had to hire, fire, and lay a couple folks off. It's been a great learning experience and showed me that I still have tons of untapped potential.

My only other gripe is up until recently my schedule has been pretty flexible. I had to lay a couple workers off which has inadvertently made my attention and focus in higher demand. An employee of mine has a husband in and out of the hospital constantly. She's practically family and has worked here just barely longer than myself. If she has any problems, it all falls on my shoulders to cover that spot along with any other position we are down. Some weeks it's a bunch of doctor visits, others it's surgeries and getting dialysis or amputations. It's really bad. When she is here, it's lots of mistakes and generally bad calls. For now it's something that just has to be tolerated but is probably the only other complaint about my job.

So anyway, I saw a posting pop up that feels like it might be the first gig that I'm qualified for. It's within my wheelhouse I think, and doesn't require degrees of which I have none anyway. It's about 10-20 minutes closer to home depending on time of day. I'm heavily considering throwing my name in the hat but have obvious reservations about doing so. Working for the same company for 18 years and then closing that chapter is scary as frick. There are lots of perks to being at the top of the pecking order. I technically have a General Manager above me but I really don't even report to him. I report directly to the owner for anything that isn't just simple supply related discussion. We bounce ideas off of each other often and he's always willing to try new things and stay ahead of the curve. He often implements my ideas and structure to every other branch including the one he runs. He's been a great mentor and is always supportive. It's going to feel like breaking off a functional marriage to leave this place. I've put so much time and effort into what I've built that leaving it to potentially fall apart feels terrible. I still have lots of freedoms I think most people would die for in a job. I don't know how much but a raise is in the works as well. Three weeks paid vacation each year. The only real negatives are lack of health benefits and a pretty small profit sharing account. Those have never been deal breakers though and are just me trying to find negatives.

I just need this damn building to move closer to home. Moving homes is not possible. The market here is probably no different than anywhere else where if I sell today, I still have to buy in today's market. Less house for more money. I only have 9 years left on my mortgage, possibly 8 since I'm always off a year but it's going to make zero sense to move.

Uggghhh.

That commute doesnt sound insurmountable if its something you love.

I would lay your concerns down to the person you report to along with several viable solutions, and if you are on very friendly terms, the owner.  They make be able to come to the table with a few options.

Options you could consider to ease the burden.

• Another branch co-manager to handle some more of the day to day and give you a more flexible schedule.
• Pull another 1-2 qualified employees from other branches to help you, either short term or long term
• A succession plan to let you stay at the company but move to a different role with a defined sunset on your current role
• Budget for aggressive hiring at your current branch to help out
• Take-home, unstickered company vehicle with a gas card and paid maintenance/insurance to elminiate the commute headache, or a vehicle stipend. 

If you lay all this out to them and they are indifferent, you will know exactly where you stand and what to do and it will take some of the stress out of walking out the door.   

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

All good points. I currently have a gas card for fuel expenses paid by the company.

I'd take over the branch I was at before which is closer but it's much smaller and feels like a big step backwards.

I know I can push for at least one employee to help with overload as it sits, but it requires training a position that takes years to understand the nuances of. It may actually end up requiring even more of my attention to do so.

I can't imagine giving up a job that I like for another 30 min not in my car a day. 

1/48th of your day is worth being happier. Keep the job you like

What if you take over the branch closer to you as your home office, but oversee the manager of your current branch? 

Maybe 3-4 days at the smaller one with a short commute, and 1-2 days at the larger one to mentor the person reporting to you?

Can you find some "positive" podcasts to listen too ......

or try and learn spanish on your way to work , 

Try and stay away from Talk radio as their goal is to keep you pissed off enough to listen to the next ads.

Good Luck

I have had a half a dozen jobs over the last 25 years that would be the second shortest commute of them all. 
My current commute is super short, 12 miles, takes 20 minutes. I wouldn't prefer to double that but if you have a job you love and an owner that treats you good I would be awfully reluctant to switch. 
That's my .02, YMMV. 

Applying for a job isn't a commitment to take it.  Put in your application, go through the process and see how far you get and how it feels.

Not sure what you do or what you make or what you commute in, but I agree with those saying you should stay. Two ideas:

1. Is a hybrid schedule a possibility? Even a day or two working from home might be the improvement you're looking for.

2. Would you mind the commute if it was in a car you loved? Big Lexus, M3, comfy pickup truck, etc? Again, not sure what you're commuting in now, but I had a 30-45 minute commute through high school and college. Swapping to a big diesel Mercedes was a huge quality of life improvement, not just simple stuff like better seats but a drastic change in fatigue/stress/etc from cruising around in a comfortable, quiet living room vs. a loud, twitchy E30. 

If you're close with the owner, discuss it with the owner. Tell him you love the company and the job but the commute is wrecking you. See what happens. 

I've been commuting 60 minutes each way since 2016. I was looking for a job closer to home a few years ago. A good friend approached me about a job that was 60-65 minutes from home. A company vehicle meant no more gas money for my commute which helped a lot. I wish I lived closer but I love my current job and am afraid I would be miserable doing anything else. I'd love to move closer to work but with our lives established, I don't think it'd be fair to my kids. My plan is to put the house on the market the day my Daughter graduates from high school in 9 years and move out into the country.

In reply to No Time :

The branch closer to home is where my current general manager resides. He's technically my superior in name alone because he's the failed manager of the branch I took over. He originally was responsible for both branches but wasn't great with managing employees. The owner is really close with him and his family so there's no way to manage both locations without causing a rift further than I did before. When I pitched the idea of taking over my current position it was a HUGE leap and a super awkward transition since the owner wanted me to take the smaller branch at the time.  We've settled in well and have no beef but I've kinda made my bed where I'm at.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I've run through all of the podcasts I care to at the moment but finding new subjects to get interested in are getting thinner year by year. Once you've heard a few, they all start to get repetitive and uninteresting. Audiobooks I've done from time to time but it's hard to jump in and out with 30-50 minute spurts and similarly they mirror the problem with podcasts. I probably should listen to less metal though as I don't think that helps much.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Unfortunately my work requires my presence. Remote work just isn't even possible. As for salary it's around $57k not including fuel coverage. Based on the job posting of what I'm interested in I can only hope it's similar. With that said I would take a pay cut for the right gig.

As for vehicles I've driven a dozen or more different ones over the years and right now I have a pretty good stable to choose from. Current options are an XJ Cherokee, Audi A3, Jettwagen, or a Scion XB. All have their positives and negatives but 3 are fairly comfy for daily duty. I drive the speed limit and stay pretty chill which took some time to adjust to.

In reply to OHSCrifle :

I've touched on the subject a bit with him before. I do think there's a more in depth conversation to be had but I think his hands are tied so there's not much he could offer that would rectify the situation. Even a pay raise is just a temporary fix.

Another +1 for "talk to the owner."  If I had a generally competent long time employee who was having issues that had them looking, I'd want to know about it and try to come up with some solutions. 
 

On that note, all the better if the presentation is "Here's the problem, and here's a solution if it works for you."

OHSCrifle said:

If you're close with the owner, discuss it with the owner. Tell him you love the company and the job but the commute is wrecking you. See what happens. 

I would do this.  You said no health insurance and $57,000?  If it doesn't look good I'd move on.

I agree it's wise to stick with my current gig but like mentioned before maybe it's worth throwing my name in the hat for something else to see what it's about?

Another upside to switching jobs is taking on something new. There's not much more I can accomplish doing my current gig other than keep things functioning. A change of pace could be nice. It could also suck though. I sometimes feel like maybe I'm just coasting by instead of challenging myself.

Also a lot of the new reasoning to get closer is the amount of accidents and amount of days my commute doubles in the afternoon drives home. It wasn't that bad for a while but the last 6 months have been terrible. There's a highway project starting just on the other side of my exit and it's going to start shrinking lanes down before it. Which means it's going to get worse for another year or two while they get that sorted.

In reply to DILYSI Dave :

I currently don't have any solutions to offer. I really wish I did.

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

I know it's not much to some, but without a degree and experience in other fields I'm limited on what's available. The jobs I see listed for positions more demanding than my own pay even less. The job market is crazy low pay for what I've seen in any fields I would fit in.

It's also worth noting I have never cared about the money, it's probably why I like my job so much. It's never been motivated by what I make.

My wife makes really good money and has heath insurance offered so we go through hers. I should have mentioned that before.

DILYSI Dave said:

Another +1 for "talk to the owner."  If I had a generally competent long time employee who was having issues that had them looking, I'd want to know about it and try to come up with some solutions. 
 

On that note, all the better if the presentation is "Here's the problem, and here's a solution if it works for you."

It seems like the only issue is the commute. Remote work is not possible and working at a closer office is not possible, so I'd assume the owner wouldn't have a solution either, unless he wants to buy him a house that's closer....

To me it sounds like it's time to move on, so why not apply to the other job?

In reply to captainawesome :

Current options are an XJ Cherokee, Audi A3, Jettwagen, or a Scion XB.

All these are nice cars but not the real highway cruisers Tom is recommending.  Seek out an Avalon Hybrid or Lexus ES Hybrid for a peaceful yet economical commute.

In reply to John Welsh :

I appreciate the feedback but it's not what I'm driving that's the problem. It's that I'm driving 3-4 towns over.

Man, I feel this. 

I like my day job a lot. I've been here for 9 years, and I've fully bought into the company and the mission. I enjoy my coworkers and the job itself. When I started, I was about 25-30min from home. They moved my office into the city, and suddenly that 30min quadrupled. I tried taking the train in for a couple years, but it was awful, since our city/state's public transportation is notoriously awful and unreliable (and sometimes dangerous). Also, walking to the office 30min from the train station in bad weather is not fun. 

Then the pandemic hit. 

Suddenly, we were all working from home. Everything in the world was upside down, but my work/life balance was incredible. 

We transitioned slowly back to the office over the past couple years, opening a different office close to where the old one was, but further if traveling on-foot from taking the train, so I decided to start driving in. I get one WFH day a week, and I have a feeling that's going away soon. We fought the battle on retaining more WFH time, but lost. At least I have plenty of vacation time I can take if I need to bail for a day here and there. 

I also doubled down last year and renovated my house, so I'm there for the long haul. We looked at moving closer before we broke ground, but we would have had to pay over double what we paid for the renovation to get half the house/property we have now and STILL have to do work to the house (market is really dumb in my area) so that was a non-starter. 

So, I drive in. 2hrs each way, typically. In a 2020 Kia Forte GT with a manual, in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It is not enjoyable. I like the car, but it's not suited to sitting in traffic like I do. I do like the size and how zippy it is in the city, though. 

What keeps me going on the commute: good music, good podcasts, and a self-promise that my next car will be more of a comfortable transportation pod than anything else. I feel that a steady, good job is one of the most important things in the whole equation, and if you have a good one, hang onto it. You can adjust to the other stuff, even if it is annoying. That said, if another opportunity came up that's a surefire fit and closer to home, I'd at the very least kick the tires on it. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I couldn't burn 4 hours a day on a commute, I don't know how anyone could. Especially with a manual transmission. I spent a few years driving my FRS pre and post K swap as a daily and it wasn't too bad. Then there would be 3-4 days in a row of bumper to bumper that would sour it for a while. That's when I got my first A3 to commute in. It made things considerably better.

In reply to Tony Sestito :

200 miles a day? Bless your heart......

I couldn't burn 4 hours either - 

Yeah, it's a lot. At some point, I may start looking to see what else is out there, but all the good paying jobs are in the city and at least my building is relatively easy to get to. The others are all in PITA areas, and driving is next to impossible once you get off the highway, not to mention there's no parking. Train would be even worse as well. 

I mean what's 20 hours a week of commuting worth to you? If you took a lower pay wage that's considerably closer I would consider that a win. By a large margin. But you do like your job and I totally understand that.