You have made a job search for high-paid jobs in the UK, looking to earn more money and ignite career progression. You have received a new job offer from a new company and handed in your resignation, but your current employer throws a spanner in the works by making a counter-offer with a salary increase. You now need to decide whether you should go or whether you should stay.
Accepting a counter-offer or moving on to a new challenge will be a difficult decision, with many factors to consider. The choice you make today could have a long-lasting impact beyond your near future, affecting your career goals, career development, average salary, job security, work-life balance and more.
In this article, we explore:
-
Why companies make counter-offers
-
Why you might accept a counter-offer
-
Why you might reject a counter-offer
-
How to make a job offer decision
-
How to decline a counter-offer
Why Companies Make Counter-Offers
Companies make counter-offers for many reasons, and staff retention levels are often closely monitored by Human Resources departments. If an organisation loses employees, it could be losing years of training, expertise, and experience.
Employees that walk away may have valuable professional relationships with clients, partners, or suppliers. That employee may also have been pegged for a promotion in the near future, which could cause a senior talent vacuum, a skills shortage, and harm the company culture. Furthermore, advertising and hiring a new employee is expensive and time-consuming, so the cost of letting an employee go can be more-significant than making a counter-offer with an increased salary.
Why You Might Accept A Counter-Offer
Half of all employees accept a counter-offer made by their current company. The initial reasons for accepting a counter-offer include not having to learn the new systems of a potential new employer and not having to make new friends with co-workers. These most common reasons are not surprising, after all, you have job security, know how to perform your current role, and are familiar with the work environment. However, do these comforts and a higher salary make accepting a counter-offer the right decision?
Multiple research studies show that nine in ten employees who take a pay rise and stay, leave their job within a year. For anyone seeking a new job, the reason is rarely just the salary. In the first place, the job search process is almost always instigated due to other problems, and accepting more money will not resolve them.
Why You Might Reject A Counter-Offer
There are many more reasons for rejecting a counter-offer from your current employer and accepting a new job:
YOUR HAPPINESS
A little over one in ten employees hand in their notice over salary alone. It is crucial to remember the other reasons for giving your resignation and appreciate that a pay rise might help you feel better in the short term but will not ultimately satisfy these motivations.
STALLED PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
If the main reason you were searching for a new role was that you felt under-appreciated or were overseen for a promotion, staying for a pay rise is unlikely to change those circumstances. You may have addressed these issues with your employer, and if things didn’t change then, they are unlikely to change now.
DAMAGED CURRENT EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIP
If you accept a counter-offer and remain in your current position, the act of giving your resignation will likely damage your employment relationship. You have said you want to leave and may have signalled this is not your dream job, you don’t like the other employees, and have only decided to stay for increased pay.
Your loyalty may now always be questioned, and your current employer might begin to build contingency plans, expecting you to accept another new job offer in the near future.
REDUCED JOB SECURITY
Accepting a counter-offer addresses your immediate desire for more money, but from now on, you may be living with one foot out the door. Your employment will be less secure, and you may have put yourself in first place should your company need to make redundancies. Worse still, current employers may present a counter-offer just to keep you on board, while they find a replacement to fill your job.
How To Make A Job Offer Decision
Before a job offer or counter-offer is accepted, we recommend reading our guides on What To Consider Before Taking A Job Offer and How To Ask For A Pay Rise. We reveal career advice to help you progress in a new job or current position, explore the pros and cons, and make the final decision on rejecting or accepting job opportunities.
How To Decline A Counter-Offer
We recommend declining a counter-offer politely. It may help to use a declining a counter-offer letter template. You might confirm that a pay rise was not the most significant factor for your decision, and instead, your reasons were founded on better career growth opportunities and work-life balance.
Counter-Offer FAQs
Here we tackle your job offer and counter-offer questions.
HOW DO YOU GRACEFULLY ACCEPT A COUNTER-OFFER?
To gracefully accept a counter-offer, your communication should include a professional greeting, your acceptance, and reaffirm your enthusiasm for continuing your career with the company.
SHOULD I DECLINE A COUNTER-OFFER?
The statistics indicate that your career will not continue with your current employer for more than a year if you accept a counter-offer. Several reasons to decline counter-offers include your happiness and career development and security.
