5 Reasons Why Some People Intentionally Take a Pay Cut When Resuming Their Careers

By J. Navarra

Jan 31, 2016 08:10 AM EST

Some people find it difficult to understand why people who go back to work after a long period would rather choose a career with lower pay than resume their previous one that pays much where one can live comfortably.

Compensation trade-offs are common when workers are trying to restart their careers after a period away from working because of caring for their children at home, a long vacation and many more reasons.

A recent study showed that professionals are pained with a 37% decline in pay after taking a break from their careers for three years or more.

The lower compensation doesn't only mean that the return to work employees are being devalued, it also means that this choice is intentional.

Yes, people would rather take a pay-cut because of the following reasons:

A better schedule. Between compensation and control, "relaunchers" would choose control. Having the ability to choose their own schedule enables them to have control.
A new field. They had the time to think that the career they left wasn't the one they wanted. So they would choose a new career path and are willing to start at the bottom.
It's easy to leave work at work. They would rather take a job knowing they can leave "work" at work. In their previous careers they probably were on call even at home or they take their paperwork to the dinner table. They want a less stressful job where they won't take their job mentally home with them.
There's no travel or extreme hours. They would rather be accountable for normal work hours most likely because the career they left behind required them to travel and work 24/7.
They need to relearn the job. Some feel that they've been out of the game for too long that they want to take a junior role and learn everything again.

This is often confusing for recruiters to understand why a person with a senior management background would rather choose a junior role. What relaunchers need to do is educate their recruiters as to why they would rather choose this role over that role and explain why they are willing to take the pay cut. Only then recruiters and employers can understand why.