What's a counter-offer and should I accept one?
Efri · 1 min readA counter-offer is when you resign and your current employer offers you more to stay.
- 01Usually don't take it
- 02Because think about what just happened
- 03And it rarely fixes the reason you were leaving
- 04More money doesn't change any of that, and in six months you're in exactly the same place with a slightly better salary
Usually don't take it.
Because think about what just happened. They could pay you more. They chose not to, until you threatened to leave. That tells you what the relationship is.
And it rarely fixes the reason you were leaving. If you were going for money only, maybe. But most people leave for the manager, the ceiling, the boredom, the direction.
More money doesn't change any of that, and in six months you're in exactly the same place with a slightly better salary.
There's also what it does to how they see you. Fairly or not, you're now the person who was on the way out. That shows up when the next promotion or the next round of cuts comes.
Take one if: it was genuinely only about money, the increase closes the gap properly, and something structural changed too. New role, new manager, new scope, in writing.
Otherwise go. You already made the decision. The counter-offer is just the exit being uncomfortable.