I'm not in the engineering sector myself, but my best mate 4 life is an electronic engineer. He recently had this same dilemma, he loved where he worked.

I think in that sector you tend to stick in the same place for a long time. You become part of the furniture, it feels like people are family, even the dysfunctional folk you don't like much. Having met his colleagues, they all seem cut from similar cloth, whether by nature or nurture. It was quite sweet, really.

In the 8 years he's been an engineer I've moved up the ladder in my own career a few times, been through restructures, I must've had 5 different job titles. The environment in my jobs (in Health would you believe) is abrasive, demanding, and you get a lot of politics to contend with. It's very dog eat dog.

It was refreshing to see you've got all these graduates that have likely uprooted to be at my mate's place, none of them being fired in trigger happy ways and just the acceptance that they're actually valued and have their feet under the table.

That being said, my mate's time came. And when your time comes, you have to go. He was offered a job in Holland and initially said to me "Well... I can't do that... I have a flat here. Friends. A car..." etc etc. Then he told me the terms.

They were sticking him on £50k a year, paying his rent, paying his travel and some of his subsistence. Bear in mind, he already has a mortgage here.

He wanted to stick here for sentimental reasons. Which I found admirable, but he would have been fucking mad. He will have a family one day.

I told him he was going, and he went. He's now found almost the exact same vibe in his new office.

Do the right thing :)