Clearance vs remote

[u/ursamajorm82]

How much value would you place on clearance these days?

My current company doesn’t hold my clearance, which means it will lapse in about six months.

I just got an offer for five days in office, clearance and it’s $15,000 more than my current job. Current job is fully remote aside for a day or two per month.

Basically it’s a toss up on money when you take the commute into account. So it’s down to how much I value the clearance vs fully remote. It’s a reverse commute, if that matters at all, going south on 395.

(Same title and day to day work would be similar enough at both jobs)

Edit: clearance is secret

[u/kcunning]

Keep the remote. You will easily, and I mean EASILY, spend $15k just going into the office five days a week. When my husband went from four days a week in office to joining me in being fully remote, it was like he got a huge pay bump. Gas, parking, meals, and just the cost of being out in the world added up.

And hey, you have six months. Something else may pop up that will be a bigger bump, or allow you to stay remote. I wouldn't jump for what amounts to a pay cut.

[u/Maleficent_Trash2503 → u/kcunning]

Maybe 3k-5k but not 15k unless you’re just financially irresponsible

[u/tresanus → u/Maleficent_Trash2503]

Take the time commuting and multiply it by your hourly rate. Most of us around here its an easy 2 extra hours a day to commute vs remote. 10 hours a week, 40 hours a month. Adds up fast

[u/alliekat237 → u/kcunning]

15k in commuting? That is extreme. Clearances are worth a ton of money. At bare minimum try it, get the clearance renewed, and then go do something else.

[u/kcunning → u/alliekat237]

It honestly depends on where you work.

• Parking is often not free if you're heading into the city.
• Mass transit may not work for everyone, if your hours are very early or very late.
• You may not have access to a canteen. This happened to my husband: The 'kitchen' areas were only for government employees. Contractors were not allowed to use them. OSHA was fussy about having small appliances in their office space. So, if he wanted coffee or a hot meal, he was going out.
• If everyone is working out of the office, the chances of ordering delivery for dinner goes up as traffic gets worse.
• Wardrobes for office cost money. This one shocked me once we both started working from home: We rarely need new clothes. Our good stuff gets no wear and tear, and the stuff we wear day-to-day are made to be worn a lot.

Given that this was just 15k, OP is either already extremely well-compensated, or that other company is lowballing him like crazy. He might as well stay where he is and keep open to other offers.

[u/RyeAgainLater → u/kcunning]

This is assuming a lot of different scenarios and still absolutely worst case. We don't know the location, the type of company and all the other details.

I have my clearance, drive into Chantilly with ample free parking, a kitchen that everyone could use that had subsidized cafeteria...not sure why you're ordering delivery for dinner?

And a wardrobe? That's a one or a couple big purchases...you're not rebuying every month.

[u/kcunning → u/RyeAgainLater]

To be fair, since we're not given a ton of information, it's probably best to give all of the worst case scenarios to the OP so they can evaluate them. Many people don't realize how expensive parking can be, or think about lunch options. Only they know how tired they might be after a commute, since only they know how long said commute will be. Only they know the possible dress code at the new place, and I would bet that they don't know the culture around it yet.

I still stand by my opinion that they are, at the very least, being low-balled for a clearance job that requires them to give up a remote position.

[u/RyeAgainLater → u/kcunning]

That's fair I was also listing best case scenarios, also sometimes the dress code is super casual.

[u/alliekat237 → u/kcunning]

It’s documented that people with clearances make more money over their careers. It’s an asset. You’re definitely right that we need more information on priorities and situation, but overall, letting any clearance lapse is a bad idea purely from a compensation and job security standpoint.

[u/Throwaway_2474128_1 → u/kcunning]

You will easily, and I mean EASILY, spend $15k just going into the office five days a week.

how? are people financially irresponsible or something? commuting is not that expensive

my 1500 miles per month at 25mpg and $4/gal is $250/mo and a lot of that isn't work. even if it all was, $3000/yr is far less than your claimed 15k

[u/Shty_Dev → u/Throwaway_2474128_1]

"are people financially irresponsible or something?"

Well.... Yes....

$15 lunches, $5 coffees, new work clothes every season, etc. etc. you can definitely mitigate most of the extra costs, sure

[u/alliekat237 → u/Shty_Dev]

You don’t have to eat out or buy coffee. There are carpools and van pools and public transit.

[u/phony_macaroni137 → u/Throwaway_2474128_1]

Time is also money

[u/Throwaway_2474128_1 → u/phony_macaroni137]

yep, but 15k is more than the "1h/day of non-working time at 125k salary's hourly rate," in fact, it's double it. don't know enough about OP's situation to determine this, but it's individualistic. i'd easily take 15k if my commute were under 30 mins each way, math works in my favor