This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Gail Galusha, a 53-year-old who took significant pay cuts twice in her career. Her identity and salary have been verified by Business Insider. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Around the mid-1990s, I was doing really well in the private sector, working in data management for the Cardiology Associates of Albany and running a side transcription business for a local orthopedics group and pain management physician.
I had a great career. Then things got difficult really fast.
I had a bad car accident right before I welcomed home my adopted baby boy, and the woman who hit me died. I was able to get my son home, and I continued working in the medical field for a bit, but then other events happened.
I lost my mom to cancer, my brother-in-law was tragically killed, and I was struggling in my marriage. All of a sudden, I was like, “What am I doing?” I felt like there had to be more to life than this.
I took two big pay cuts in my career
I decided to leave my medical job and join the public sector for a clerk typist role at the school my kids were going to. I wanted to be closer to my kids, and it was a wonderful opportunity.
But it came with over a 20% pay cut.
It was a challenge financially. I still paid my bills, but my lifestyle completely changed. We didn’t take fabulous vacations anymore, but I tried to do weekend getaways every chance I could. We would go camping and ride our bikes a lot.
There were times when I felt like I could really use the extra money. But I was in the school district where my kids were walking the halls, and I knew that role would be a ticket to my future success.
It wasn’t long before I moved up. Within two years, the regional information center serving over 100 public school districts recognized me and invited me to work for them. I took the job, and my pay increased.
Seven years later, I was asked to join the administrative cabinet of a large public school district, and my pay jumped again.
Then, I had the opportunity to leave K-12 and enter higher education. It was a 15% pay cut, but I was still keeping my pension and health insurance.
Again, I looked at it and thought it was purposeful for me. My kids were at this point in college, so I didn’t have the guilt of leaving them. I sold everything I owned, including my house, and I went two hours away to this college.
I was there for about a year and a half, and it just wasn’t the right atmosphere or the right place for me to be. So I came back home and took another job in education.
The second pay cut probably wasn’t worth it
I didn’t make a mistake taking a pay cut the first time.
I knew back then that Elisabeth Kübler-Ross famously advised against making drastic changes during times of chaos, but I felt like my life was spiraling out of control. I had to make life better for myself and my kids.
When I made the first decision, I was running back home to my kids. It was in my community, and I didn’t feel separate from them. I also love education and I knew it was my ticket to freedom and progress.
The second cut wasn’t the best decision. I thought because it worked the first time, maybe it would work again. I went away from friends and family. I was still going toward education and learning, and I don’t regret that. But I should have taken more time with that decision.
After selling my house, it was expensive to rent, and I thought, “Maybe I should have kept my home. I should have stayed.”
I’m a state worker, so those decisions affected my pension, as well. When you take a pay cut, you need to make sure that it is purposeful, works for your personal and financial life, and is the right thing to do.
The first time I took a pay cut, it worked for me personally and financially because I still made enough to pay my bills, and I wanted to do it. The second time, it was purposeful for my career, but it didn’t align as much with my personal life, and I didn’t need to do it.
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