DW has an opportunity for a part time gig

[Z3Dreamer]

DW's old company wants her to help out short term for a project in a few months. May be a total of 150 hours spread over 4 months. They talked to her a month or so ago and have not gotten back to her. Last communication was pretty direct that they wanted her. Some of the salient points:

• Person who would negotiate her pay would argue or ghost her just for fun.
• DW's pay rate was about 2/3 of her replacement. DW would want 3 times her hourly rate as a consultant. Said argue/ghost person would make the conversation unpleasant.
• She would have to deal with and get information from folks who routinely ignored her requests for info and can't deal with a strong woman. If she said "I won't deal with George and Ringo." She might as well not do the project.
• Too much income will make her lose SS check and if we are not careful it will cost us tons in lost premium tax credit.
• OTOH, if she is careful, she can pick up a little chunk of change.
• DW likes most of the people she worked with.
• Mostly she could work remotely.
• DW had a stressful dream last night, where she was already doing the work and found people not doing their job, so it made this project more difficult.
• I see no future benefit to assisting these folks, other than pay, but she wants to be nice - not burn bridges.

My question: Does any body think she should do this? Any body ever had such a situation? If so, was the stress worth it?

 

[tmm99]

It sounds like she didn't like her workplace much to start with? The only thing I see as a positive is the money she will be earning. (I'm not sure why she is worried about burning bridges as a retiree?) To me, the negatives outweigh the positives, unless she needs the money. She is already stressed out, having dreams about it, so I'd say, don't do it.

 

[omni550]

Sure doesn't sound like it's worth the hassle.

She's retired and gone. Why does she care about 'not burning bridges'?
The negotiator sounds passive-aggressive. Who needs that?
She's already having bad dreams about it. Yikes.

omni

 

[Carpediem]

Her stressful dreams are her 'gut' telling her not to do it. No way would I sign up for that.

 

[Sojourner]

It sounds like she didn't like her workplace much to start with? The only thing I see as a positive is the money she will be earning. (I'm not sure why she is worried about burning bridges as a retiree?) To me, it looks like the negatives outweigh the positives, unless she needs the money. She is already stressed out, having dreams about it, so I'd say don't do it.

+1, basically. Although if she's able to get the 3x hourly rate as a consultant, then it sounds like it just might be worth it. Another way to look at it might be: Would this extra money actually enhance or improve your life in a realistic, practical way? IOW, would you use it to do something fun, different, memorable, or "bucket list-y", or would you simply dump it into a savings account where it would just sit and have no noticeable, meaningful impact on your lives?

 

[Aerides]

They talked to her a month or so ago and have not gotten back to her.

Chances are she won't hear back, and the need has been filled elsewhere. So put a (new/higher) number on "if this is the offer, we take it" and then put it out of your minds for good, until/unless the phone rings, with a commitment to start within a week.

 

[aja8888]

In retirement, I have only taken on consulting work I have enjoyed.

Taking on projects and roles one is not comfortable with is too frustrating no matter how much they pay you.

 

[W2R]

When we are young, jobs are hard to find.

When we are retired, things are different. I don't think there is even one of us who has not been offered a part time job at or after retirement.

To me, her job offer is not a "job opportunity"; it's an opportunity for her to re-examine whether or not she is actually ready to retire.

Personally I would not and did not take such a job offer. Actually I responded to management (politely, with a smile) literally saying that my agency didn't have enough money in the budget to get me to consult or work part time after my retirement date. After I said that the third time, on up the chain of command, they finally believed me and stopped asking.

I had given them 6 months' notice, after all, during which time they did nothing. I firmly believe that in a good organization, nobody is so vital to the organization's function that they cannot be replaced. And if the organization is so poorly managed that one person cannot be replaced, then who wants to work there? Not me.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

If she wants extra money it seems like with the current unemployment rate there should be more enjoyable opportunities out there. I try to listen to my dreams - it is usually the best advice.

 

[braumeister]

• Person who would negotiate her pay would argue or ghost her just for fun.
• DW's pay rate was about 2/3 of her replacement. DW would want 3 times her hourly rate as a consultant. Said argue/ghost person would make the conversation unpleasant.
• She would have to deal with and get information from folks who routinely ignored her requests for info and can't deal with a strong woman. If she said "I won't deal with George and Ringo." She might as well not do the project.
• Too much income will make her lose SS check and if we are not careful it will cost us tons in lost premium tax credit.

My question: Does any body think she should do this? Any body ever had such a situation? If so, was the stress worth it?

Sounds like she already knows these big negatives, so why even consider it since you don't need the money?

 

[bobandsherry]

Think others have weighed in with same thought as me, so.... given all the "positives" you've laid out, why is she even considering this?

 

[JoeWras]

[*]Person who would negotiate her pay would argue or ghost her just for fun.

I actually had to look up this new hip term, "to ghost" someone. Used mostly in dating, it applies professionally and is my #1 pet peeve at w*rk. As a matter of fact, a co-w*rker of mine is sweating bullets right now because his primary contact is "just too busy" to ever answer his emails.

If someone at work is doing it "just for fun," why on earth would you want to work with such a person?

Just Say No. Your DW is just asking for more nightmares.