some of you probably remember all my job drama but short story is my income has pretty much been cut in half over the last year. I work on commission painting cars and the shop closed, reopened with new owners but we are very slow while waiting for summer to end and drps to pick up.  I went from making aroun50k to about 25k and I have no benefits.    IF this place picks up again Ill probably be at around 50k but there is no guarantee.
I just got offered a job painting these funny looking metal construction sculptures for some european company.   THe business is strong for 22 years and overtime is often available if I want it with hourly pay starting at 20 dollars an hour with full paid medical benefits.   This job is about the easiest god damned thing I have ever seen.  I wont be breaking my back prepping and sanding and buffing anything anymore and They are all solid colors so no worries about matching or fucked up body work or anything else.  
So basically Ill be upping my pay by about 20k per year if you include the benefits without any overtime pay but I will risk the POSSIBILITY of 50-60 k someday down the road or even more if my current boss leaves.   Im thinking money now is far more valuable than money in the future considering the way things are going in this economy and it has been my opinion for a while that insurance companies and many shops have been pushing the trade towards an hourly shitty job anyways.  the workload has been getting bigger and bigger and the flag hours have been getting smaller and smaller so maybe this will be a good change for now.  I can get to my goal of paying my house off faster with the extra money and retrain myself for something else if need be down the road.
THe only real downside is that Ill be driving about 250 miles a week to this job which means Ill have to buy another used car every five years or so rather than every ten.
Another upside is that this shop has central air conditioning.  I am a little tired of working in 100+ degree weather most of the year. The paint booth is also A/C.  My current paint booths hit 130 in the middle of the summer.  
When the economy eventually comes back there is always the option of finding another commission job paying 50-80k but right now there are hundreds of painters applying for every job and unless you are fucking the bosses daughter everyone has a connection making my odds of getting one next to zero until the economy comes back. I have my connections as well but they are with places that have good painters already and I woont be able to use them until someone retires, moves or dies because nobody is leaving a good job nowdays.
What do you guys think?  I think I am going to go for it.
UPDATE- SO my boss was cool with me leaving so I start at the new place thursday. He said if I need my job back I can have it whenever.  
Then I come back from lunch and the mechanic tells me the owner is freaking the hell out and I need to talk to him about me leaving.  I go sit down with the owner and he tells me that he wants me to stay.  I tell him that I cannot work there for part time wages and that even when it gets busy I wont be making as much as I would like to and I think it is time to try something else.  The owner then tells me that he wants two paint teams when it gets busy and was hoping I would stay on to be the second painter because he recognizes that I am better and faster than 99 percent of the painters out there.
He tells me that if he could afford it he would pay me a salary until then but he doesn't know how long it will be until we get our larger DRP accounts so he can't make any promises like that. He said he understands that this job is better for me for now but asked if I would come back if the other painter leaves or if we pick up the DRP accounts and he makes me the second painter on my own with split hours rather than being underneath my current boss and getting a smaller cut.    I told him the minute he can show me that I will be flaging at least 40k a year I would leave my new job and come back the next day to paint for him.    He said I earned the position a long time ago and it is a shame the old owner didn't recognize it and he will call me the minute the shop can afford me.  He also told me that if things dont work out at the new job and I come back to work for my boss he will still give me the position as soon as we are breaking enough hours to cover it because he does not want me to leave for another auto body shop.
So for the first time in over a year I am in a good fucking mood about work. This turned out to be the best decision I have made in a while because not only am I going to make more money right now I forced the new owners hand and secured myself a much higher paying position in the future if the shop gets the DRP accounts and gets busy.  
Load of stress has just rolled off my shoulders.





UPDATE 2- so IM packing my tools and shit up from the old shop getting ready to start the new job tomorrow.  OUt of the blue one of my buddies calls and says "bring a resume"(he works at a shop as well as a writer)


So I go down there and the owner tells me he is thinking about replacing his painter because the guy is fat and old and lazy and has trouble color matching. He asked if I would work  there and do some painting to see if I can do better than him because he doesn't want to fire the guy until he knows what I can do.  He offered me a base salary of 37 thousand and full commission if he decides Im better and fires the other guy.    My firend has worked for this company a long time and they have a decent reputation and strong DRP accounts so I take the offer.    My friend speaks very highly of the owner and has worked there for about 6 years so I know he isn't bullshitting me and I know from what the owner told me I am a way better painter than this guy.





I dropped my tools off today and the guy is indeed fat and old. I was there for about ten minutes and he was playing with an iphone the whole time while the paint both sat empty and there were cars that needed to be prepped. This is going to be a piece of cake.  Within a couple of months Ill take his job and be making at least 50-60k  .  Operation out with the old in with the new starts tomorrow at 8 AM.  



Also this place is only five minutes from my house.





THis has been a crazy fucking week.





 

If you stay there will be trouble

If you go it will be double.

well fuck



 

Sharrif he don't like it . . .

People have been telling you throughout numerous threads to get out of that rathole you work at.



"...but hookers and blow will rain from the skies once The Bobs take over!"



Get. The. Fuck. Out.



Run, don't walk.



Run like Lucifer is at your heels with rape on his mind.

Go for it......

you haven't quit already?



What are you waiting for? Full medical paid????





RUN FOREST RUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

The heat issue alone would make me run from your present job to the new one.  Earn the money now, pay down everything you can, then you can decide your future better.

Sounds like you already know what to do.

Good luck!

true. I have been looking for a good shop to go to but there are no painter jobs. THis ultimately isn't that great of pay probably topping out at 45k+benefits  if I get raises but I think it is better to at least have that guaranteed until the economy comes back and I can find a good shop to work at for commission wages.



 

fuck it Im foing.  It's hard to leave behind something you put 8 years into but a dollar now is worth two tomorrow in this economy I think.  I think the fact Im sitting here at home because there is nothing to do at work is helping make the decision pretty easy as well.

I'd fo. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

That drive will become so routine you won't think about it. Just don't run miles up on an expensive vehicle.

I drove that or more for 15 years and always kept a reliable shit-wreck to run miles up on. I had to change oil and brakes a lot.

I drove a longer route in and out of phoenix for about 2 years with no a/c. I have just become used to working close to home.



 

In this economy, a guaranteed income is important, even if it is less than what you could potentialy get if everything turns out well at the body shop.

Don't bet your success and your income on everything working out perfect, it never does.

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Good decision. I made the leap to a lower paying but more stable job over two years ago. Best decision I ever made.


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So come on and let me know.

yeah this shit is throwing my ultimate plans off track as well. I want my house payed off before I turn 35. (seven years from now, bought two years ago)  This job should get that done by 33. Then I will have more freedom to do what I want with zero debt and about ten years worth of living expenses saved up.   25k I am making now has halted my progress.    trying to keep the big picture in mind.



Manager also let me talk to the other employees. There are only four other guys there. 2 prep guys and 2 fabricators. The fabricators have been working for the company for over ten years and told me they have as much work as they can handle. The company has years of orders placed worldwide for these things.    I think the owners are french or something but they are based in the US.



 

Take the guarantee and find sidework if the income gap bothers you. Everybody is looking for a good body man that needs a little work on the side.

they build big metal scultures and we paint them. the guys told me they have never once had a slow day and are backordered on these things for years. SO Im thinking it is at least stable for a few years.



 

I actually am starting to get pretty good at PDR work. Im looking to start my own business doing that after I pay my house off if I can build up a decent reputation. I talked with a couple guys who own their own PDR businesses and they say the pay is around 70k if you feel like working a 40 hour week and can find the work.  I don't want to paint forever. Im not a fan of being around all the chemicals and I want to work on my own with no bosses or bullshit so If I want to go hunting on a wednsday I don't have to ask permission. Plus a lot of cash work has it's benefits as well.
 

You have chosen...





WISELY









Good luck with the new gig!
 

Also bear in mind, this sounds like it is a company that could potentially lead to a job supervising other painters.



I.E. a promotion/raise and room to grow!

Europe is about to experience what we did in 2008 and they don't have the options we did. Wouldn't put my future in such a mess. Don't know how present work situation is but think real hard. Might end up unemployed when they implode which they will.

I did consider that.  That's why I asked about the workload. they have buyers worldwide and a lot in the US as well.   IF the place downsizes I will have them fire the two prep guys and do the prep work myself .  They are expendable in the process. I am not.  If the place cut down to bare minimum it would have the fabricator and me.   Plus these are the kinds of things that start in the tens of thousands and probably cost less than a thousand to make so  they would have to fall pretty hard to go under.  



 

I'm in AZ for work a couple of times per year.  If you don't take this job, I'll stop by and berate you in a most rude manner.

FIFY



 

the boss did mention they planned on buying the building next door (they own this building flat out) to make more room for a heavier workload.  I am a very hard worker and mght be able to drag a fair wage out of them if they expand and I can keep up.



 

Is there any info on the company to be found elsewhere besides employees?  Interwebs?  I would double check, just in case.

Otherwise...Sounds like you should fo'.

Good luck!

FO!  Your current job is swirling the bowl.  Jump out before it sucks you down into the sewer.

Did you stay or did you fo?

Bird in the hand, worth 2 in the bush.

If you can get the money now do it.

You're crazy if you have not quit your present job yet.

I would have taken the new job...and done auto-body as a sideline...yesterday.

i would need you to paint my car first to see how you do before i can decide...

Eject

How is this even up for consideration?  Bail.  

This.

You answered your own fucking question in the OP.

I don't even need to point out what YOU would suggest, if someone else was posting your story.

Man up, and just do it.

Was this a small shop? Just curious because the shop I worked at had 4 painters and all of them made $100k+/year.

I will soon have to start commuting 3 hours each day instead of my usual 30 minutes thanks to Obama's *stimulus*.  But then again, $25/hr with a 3 hour commute beats the $10-$15 an hour I could get with any other local job.  I'll just have to suck it up until people with more senority start to retire in a few years and I can return to the local shop.

I haven't been following your sage but allow me to jump in this thread and say.....GET THE FUCK OUT.

This isn't even a real decision.

You've given the new business a chance to grow, it hasn't so cut your damned losses. Take the metal painting gig and don't look back.

Trust me, I know how hard it is to leave something you know and have done for years but good Lord this is about as easy as decisions get.

Leave, now.

Hope it works out for you. I have left my current job (working on nasty diesel trucks with a bad back, boss understands) twice this year to try something easier on my back.

Job one - master tech on exotic foreign cars. Lasted 6 weeks, last 3 weeks paychecks bounced, owner lied his ass off and tried to not pay my final check until I told him I was reporting him for felony bad check writing.

Job two - guy agreed on 1/3 the labor rate for hours billed (flat rate) plus $10/hr for hourly doing service work, changing tires ect. Pulled a fast one on me, didn't say he was holding back my first check and paying bi-weekly. A month went by before I got my first paycheck and it averaged out to a little less than $10/hr. I asked where the flat rate pay was and he went into some new math explanation that was utter bullshit and NOT what we shook on. (about $900 for the 2 weeks alone, paycheck was $700 total)

Be careful out there, lot of employers on the verge of bankruptcy and hiring just to try and make it through the week because their regular employees have had to quit due to bounced checks, lying about hours worked ect.

very large high volume collision shop.  the painters USED to make that.  Im only 27 and by the time I climbed the ranks to commission the economy was failing and nobody was making that kind of money anymore.  My last three paychecks were actually larger than the guy above me in rank. He keeps me on only because he is a bit reluctant to do hard work even though one man could carry the load at our shop right now.    There are still some big dealership shops that are pushing that kind of volume mostly in the rich parts of town but nobody is leaving those jobs and they have already filtered out their shit painters when the economy started tanking.    So someday when things pic back up I might be able to find a job that pays that but it sure as shit isn't going to be in the next couple of years.



 

yeah that is always a concern.   I have savings and the wife makes enough to cover the bills and to live on if shit doesn't pan out though so Im not extremely worried about finding work immediately.  It would be hard not to burn the fucking place down if a check bounced though.



 

If the biggest downside to this new job is a 25 mile commute, then it sounds shiny.   I drive about that, it's not bad at all.  Heck, I work with folks who drive down triple that amount.  150 mile round trip commutes...

37 miles each way at the real job...used to be 40 ish each way at the previous.

You ain't kiddin it was. The other 5 employee's got screwed too, I was the first to quit, they were stupid enough to keep working another 3-4 weeks, told me I was not a "team player" and had a bad attitude. Heard he still owes them A BUUUUUNCH of money.

yeah I have played that game before at the couple of places I worked before my current job. I will give em one week to make good or Im out.  learned my lesson the first time.