Hello,Last Friday, I was offered Voluntary Redundancy by my employer. It is a boutique strategy firm, where I have worked for 2 and a half years in.I really don't want to accept the offer, as I know that job prospects in strategy consulting are thin on the ground at the moment, especially in sectors where I have a lot of experience in e.g. Retail.However, if my firm does reach its headcount reduction target (despite me not accepting it), how much risk do I face from a possible compulsory redundancy? I am not a star performer, but I would say that my progress has been in line with my peer group.I would welcome your thoughts/comments on this,Thanks,Ben

if you're firm does reach it's head count reduction then you should be safe (for now, until the nest round of cuts). If not, you could be subjected to CR. A question to ask is if you would get the same payoff for CR and VR

What terms are they offering for those taking voluntary redundancy?

It is 6 months salary (tax free) vs. 3 months (tax free) that would be awarded in the event of a Compulsory Redundancy

if u take vr now u get 6 months....but could be without a job for a few months (assume 3). if u get cr in say 4-6 months, and still have to go thru the notice period, u still earn as much as u would with vr + few months jobless........and ur cv won't show u as jobless either. my advice stick it out unless u can line something up prior to the close date of vr.

3 months out of work is rather optimistic currently. Your CV sounds very marketable. In normal times would be easy. But the market is horrible with many, many strong people out of work particularly in strategy.Other than that I would agree with rough calculation.

Depends on if you want to stick out your current job because you enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it I should not think a brief unemployed stint in today's economic climate puts you at a disadvantage of securing a new role somewhere else. Also consider that your 6 months tax free VR package works out at something like 10 months take home pay and 3 months tax free is about 5-6 months take home pay - basically you could survive for quite some time without a job and you could travel or do something you actually want to do - in terms of better times to do this, I can't think of a better time - ride the recession wave in California whilst you can...

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush...Surely it's better to keep what you have and start putting the CV out there, than to throw yourself into a tough job market with no fallback position? Your time paid for by the VR money won't be a holiday... you'll be busier than ever before trying to find a new job.

i think only first 30k can be tax free