Would you take a pay cut to switch to product?
I’ve been a UXR for ~ 10y and just got an offer from my old company to return as a UX-focused product manager.
I’d be responsible for generative research, product strategy/roadmap, and work with UX on designs and evaluative testing etc. That company hasn’t fully jumped off the AI cliff yet so (except for research) PMs aren’t yet pressured to do end to end work. The execs aren’t super crazy about chasing metrics at the expense of the UX. The product is very interesting to me, and I know the hiring manager pretty well. Commute would be much shorter. I think it’s a great fit for the most part.
The problem is that they’re struggling to meet my requested compensation. I countered their initial offer and don’t have final numbers yet but I was warned I’ll probably have to take a loss of $5k-$20k/year. And that’s just year 1. My current employer has better raises and bonuses, better 401k options and other quality of life perks. The loss would compound over time, assuming my current employer didn’t decide to lay us all off.
Anyway, if you thought you’d like the job better, would you be willing to lose money on it?