Counter-offer - Should I Accept It or Not?

Whether you're looking for a new challenge in your career or simply want a change in your work environment, a new career opportunity can be life-changing. During the process, difficult decisions may need to be made. It becomes even more complicated if your current employer makes you a counter-offer. You have already made the decision to leave, and suddenly, new conditions arise to consider. The idea of getting more money, additional benefits, or a promotion can be tempting, but is it really worth it?

Some companies never offer counter-offers to departing employees, while others always do. Statistics show that:

About half of those making a career change will receive a counter-offer.
80% of job seekers who accept a counter-offer from their current employer leave the company within 6 months. Within a year, this percentage rises to 90%.
Counter-offers are rarely about the employee and are more often an employer’s attempt to protect their business.

What exactly is a counter-offer?

The decision to leave a job and start a new venture is significant and often requires months of preparation. When you finally receive the long-awaited offer, it may seem like the goal has been achieved and the process is complete. However, when you submit your resignation, you may be faced with a counter-offer from your employer. They might offer a salary increase, additional benefits, or a higher position to convince you to stay with the company.

A counter-offer may seem like an excellent opportunity. You already know the company, the work processes, and the people, and now they are offering you something extra. But accepting it is not a decision to be taken lightly, as a counter-offer is often not as ideal as it seems.

Why your employer is offering it?

Before deciding whether it's worth accepting a counter-offer, you need to understand why your employer is offering it. Counter-offers may seem like a compliment and recognition of your professionalism, but the truth is that they are almost always aimed at protecting the business, not keeping you. What do we mean by this? Replacing employees takes time and comes with financial costs. For example, replacing a high-level manager can cost up to 200% of their annual salary. For lower-level positions, the cost is smaller but still significant. If you're in a role that is hard to fill due to specific skills and qualifications, your position may remain vacant for months. Therefore, the counter-offer often has little to do with how much they value you as an employee and more to do with cost-saving measures.

Is it worth accepting a counteroffer?

A counter-offer can significantly disrupt your plans. Just when you're ready to move on, something new comes along that requires careful consideration. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons before making a final decision.

Some of the pros may include:

You won’t have to go through the process of being a “newbie” at work again.
You won’t need to establish new relationships (both personal and professional).
You avoid the stress that comes with changing companies.
Your salary increases, so if this was the main reason for your resignation, you win. Some employees use the counter-offer tactic to push their current employer to increase their salary and recognize their value to the company. This is a very different situation from actually wanting to leave and find a new role.
If you’re using resignation as a way to get more money for your current position, you’re not truly serious about leaving.

The cons:

Remember the reasons that motivated you to look for a new job. You’ve already made the tough decision to leave the company, and there were some real reasons behind that choice. Think carefully about why you decided to seek a new role and ask yourself if the counter-offer really changes anything.

For example, if you're leaving because you hate the commute, then no matter how much money your employer offers, you'll still have to make the same commute.

Trust with your current employer will be damaged, and your once-untarnished loyalty may be called into question. Once your employer realizes you decided to leave the company and move elsewhere, their trust in you might vanish permanently. Even if you choose to accept the counter-offer and stay with your current company, your employer may question your loyalty. They might be hesitant to invest further in your career, fearing that you may decide to leave again. When your employer thinks you’re not committed to the business long-term, it can negatively affect your career growth.

If they value you so much, why are they offering all this now and not months ago? Should you really have to threaten to leave every time you want a raise or career advancement?
If your current company was capable of offering a salary increase or promotion, why didn’t they do it before you decided to leave? For most of us, it’s essential to work for a company that recognizes the value of its employees. So, if you need to submit your resignation to get what you deserve, then perhaps your current employer isn’t the kind of business worth working for. If the counter-offer includes a promotion, carefully consider whether this new role truly exists. It’s not uncommon for businesses to create a new role as a promotion to entice you to stay, only to buy time to find your replacement. Once your old position is filled, the new role may become redundant, as they no longer need you.

More money won't magically make you happier at your job. Over time, you'll adjust to your new salary and lifestyle, but the other "red flags" that made you consider leaving in the first place will still be there.

You may damage your professional reputation. No one likes to be misled, and backing out of an already agreed-upon offer will never work in your favor. The new employer has stopped their hiring process and started planning for your arrival, only to be rejected at the last minute because you accepted a counter-offer.

If you've been working with recruitment consultants, the same applies to them—they have invested a lot of hard work and dedication to guide you through the entire process. Your withdrawal may not only incur additional costs for them but also tarnish their reputation with the business. All of this reflects on your reputation and can significantly harm your prospects when seeking future opportunities.

You could burn your chances of working at that company or with that recruiter in the future, and there’s also a possibility that the business might cross paths with you again at your next workplace.

In conclusion

No one understands your current professional situation better than you. Ultimately, the decision is yours alone. However, before making any choice, take the time to think long and hard about what you truly want. First, consider the reasons you began seeking change in the first place. Will those reasons magically disappear or improve if you're paid more money? Would you have even started looking for a new job if you thought things could change for the better?

Think about your career and where you want to be in the next few years. Which is more likely to help you achieve that—staying in a place you're considering leaving or moving to a new company with different opportunities for growth and career development? Reflect on everything mentioned above—you may even want to make your own pros and cons list (it turns out lists can be quite useful)—before accepting or rejecting the counter-offer. This could be the line between your career's collapse and its flourishing.

Sourcess:

https://hortoninternational.com, autor Joshua Hollander

https://prmia.org, autor Keeley Fitzsimmons

See more in Candidates

See more

All about the Counter-offer