You’ve handed in your resignation.
Then your employer suddenly wants to talk.
Maybe there’s a pay rise on the table. Maybe they’ve offered you a promotion, more flexibility or promised to fix whatever made you want to leave in the first place.
For a moment, it can be tempting to think: Maybe I should stay.
That’s the psychology behind a counteroffer. It can change the situation very quickly, but it doesn’t necessarily change the reasons you wanted to leave in the first place.
Why Do Counteroffers Feel So Tempting?
Leaving a job is a big decision.
Even when you’re unhappy, you’re stepping away from something familiar. You know your colleagues, your routine, your responsibilities and how the business works.
A new job brings uncertainty.
A counteroffer can remove some of that uncertainty immediately. You get the reassurance of staying somewhere you already know, while potentially receiving better pay or conditions.
The pull of the familiar
People naturally tend to place value on things they already have.
Once you’ve accepted another job and handed in your notice, your current role can suddenly feel more valuable because you’re faced with the prospect of losing it.
That’s one reason a counteroffer can make someone reconsider a decision they felt confident about only days earlier.
But it’s worth separating “I don’t want to leave” from “I’m nervous about leaving.”
They aren’t necessarily the same thing.
A Pay Rise Doesn’t Always Solve a Career Problem
Money is one of the most obvious things an employer can change when someone resigns.
And if salary was genuinely the main reason you wanted to leave, a counteroffer could address the issue.
But many resignations aren’t purely about money.
Maybe you’ve stopped progressing. Perhaps the workload has become unsustainable. You don’t get on with your manager. The role has changed. There’s no clear career path. Or you simply don’t enjoy the job anymore.
Look at what actually triggered the resignation
Before accepting a counteroffer, it can help to ask yourself:
- Why did I start looking for another job?
- What made me apply in the first place?
- Has that underlying issue actually changed?
- Would I still have wanted to leave if I hadn’t received another offer?
- Am I staying because I genuinely want to, or because leaving suddenly feels more difficult?
A bigger salary can solve a salary problem.
It can’t automatically solve every other problem.
Why Employers Make Counteroffers
It’s also worth looking at the situation from the employer’s perspective.
Losing a good employee creates disruption. There’s the cost and time involved in recruiting, the impact on the wider team and the knowledge that leaves with the person.
A counteroffer can therefore be a practical attempt to retain someone who is valuable to the business.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the employer is acting cynically.
They may genuinely recognise the employee’s value and want to address their concerns.
But timing matters
If it took a resignation for your employer to offer more money, more flexibility or progression, it’s reasonable to ask why those changes weren’t possible before.
That doesn’t automatically make the counteroffer a bad one.
It does mean you should understand what has changed and whether the commitment is realistic.
The Problem With Promises
One of the biggest questions to ask is what the counteroffer actually contains.
“We’ll look at your progression.”
“We can probably make your role more flexible.”
“We’ll review your salary again in a few months.”
These might all sound positive, but they’re not the same as a concrete change.
Get clarity before making a decision
If your employer is offering something to persuade you to stay, understand exactly what that means.
Is the salary increase confirmed? When does it take effect? Is the new responsibility formally part of your role? Is the flexibility agreed or simply being discussed?
The more specific the offer, the easier it is to decide whether anything has genuinely changed.
Staying Can Still Be the Right Decision
Counteroffers aren’t automatically bad.
Sometimes handing in your notice prompts an honest conversation that should have happened sooner.
Perhaps the employer didn’t realise how unhappy you were. Maybe your role can be changed, your salary was genuinely out of line with the market or there’s a realistic opportunity for progression that you hadn’t previously discussed.
In those situations, staying could make sense.
The important thing is to make the decision based on the new reality, rather than the emotional relief of being asked to stay.
Ask Yourself What You Actually Want
A counteroffer can turn a straightforward decision into a complicated one.
Suddenly, you’re weighing more money against a new opportunity. Familiarity against change. Loyalty against career progression.
There’s no universal answer.
The useful question isn’t simply “Is this counteroffer good?”
It’s “Does this actually change the reasons I wanted to leave?”
If the answer is yes, it may be worth reconsidering. If the answer is no, a bigger salary might simply delay the same decision for another few months.
For employers, the same lesson applies. If employees only receive meaningful conversations about pay, progression or flexibility once they’re resigning, the counteroffer may be treating the symptom rather than the reason someone started looking elsewhere.
Sometimes the best way to retain people isn’t to wait until they’re leaving. It’s to understand what might make them want to stay in the first place.
If you are looking for a new role or a way to improve your hiring strategy, Four Squared Recruitment is here to help. We believe in doing things the right way, putting people first and delivering solutions that make a real difference.
