What is a counteroffer from your current employer?
A counteroffer is what your current employer puts on the table after you say you are leaving. It is usually a raise, sometimes with a new title, a bonus or a different manager. It can arrive within days of your notice, and it may come with a deadline of its own.
Some employers have formal rules for this. The US federal government, for example, lets agencies pay a retention incentive to an employee who would be "likely to leave the Federal service" without it. The rate can be up to 25 percent of basic pay, and the employee usually signs a written agreement to stay for a set period.
Private employers set their own terms. Read whatever you are offered as a contract change, because that is what it is.
Should you accept a counteroffer?
Accept a counteroffer only if it fixes the reason you started looking, in writing, and still beats the new offer on the things you care about. If you left because of pay alone, a matching raise can solve it. If you left because of your manager or the work itself, more money rarely changes that.
Start by writing down why you applied elsewhere in the first place. Do this before the counteroffer meeting, while your reasons are fresh. A list with three lines is enough.
Then hold the counteroffer up against that list. For each reason, ask whether the new terms change it, change it partly or leave it as it was. A raise that leaves two of your three reasons untouched is a raise to stay in a job you wanted to leave.
There is also no reliable public figure for how many people who accept a counteroffer leave soon after. You will see confident percentages online, but we could not find a primary study behind them, so this page does not use one. Judge your own case on its facts.
What questions should you ask before you decide?
Ask what exactly changes, when it starts and where it is written down. A counteroffer made in a hallway is a promise; one in a signed letter is a term. Ask about the reason you were leaving, by name, and listen for a specific answer with a date. Vague answers such as "we'll look at that" tell you something too.
Here are example questions you can copy:
- "Can you send the new salary, title and start date in writing?"
- "Does the raise change my bonus target or my next review date?"
- "I was leaving partly because of [reason]. What will be different about that, and by when?"
- "Is there any condition attached, such as staying for a set period or paying anything back if I leave?"
- "Who else needs to approve this, and has that already happened?"
The question about conditions matters. Retention bonuses can come with a stay period, as the OPM rules above show for federal staff. In a private company, any payback clause is set by the letter you sign, so read it before you agree.
How do you compare the counteroffer with the new offer?
Put both offers side by side and compare the full package, then the reasons you were leaving. Base pay is the easiest line to match, so it often looks closer than the jobs are. The table below lists what to check. Fill in a third column for your own case and mark which side wins each row.
| What to compare | Counteroffer from current employer | New job offer |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | New figure, and when it starts | Figure in the written offer |
| Bonus and equity | Does the target change, and does unvested equity stay | Sign-on bonus, equity grant, vesting start |
| Title and scope | New title in writing, and what work comes with it | Title and team in the offer letter |
| Reason you were leaving | What changes, by when, and who owns it | Whether the new role solves it |
| Conditions | Any stay period or payback clause | Any payback clause on a sign-on bonus |
| Benefits | Usually the same as now | Start date for health cover and retirement match |
| Growth | Next review date and what a promotion needs | What the hiring manager described |
For the money lines, the guide to total compensation vs salary shows how to add up bonus, equity and benefits. The page on comparing job offers has a fuller scoring method. If the new employer's offer is below what you need, you can still ask them for more with a counter offer email before you decide.
What happens to your notice period while you decide?
In most US states, you can resign at any time, and notice is a custom rather than a law. A Georgia state office's at-will employment page says notice is "preferable, but not required," and that two weeks is "the generally accepted professional standard." A contract or a union agreement can set its own notice rule, so check yours.
SHRM says "Most states follow the employment-at-will doctrine." It adds that employers "should be careful" about calling advance notice a requirement. That cuts both ways: once you give notice, an at-will employer may also end the job sooner. Plan your money as if your last day could come early.
Canada works by province. British Columbia's quitting page says employers "usually like some notice before an employee quits, but this is not required." Alberta's termination rules say employees who quit must give written notice: one week after more than 90 days of work, and two weeks after two years, with some exceptions.
Ontario's termination guide sets an employee notice rule for one case: a mass termination where the employer has already given notice. There, the employee must give one week of written notice with under two years of service, or two weeks after that. Check your own province's employment standards page and your contract.
What if you already accepted the new job?
If you signed the new offer, accepting a counteroffer means backing out of a commitment you made in writing. Check the new offer letter for anything you would owe. Then tell the new employer quickly, by phone and in writing, so they can reopen the search. Waiting a week makes it harder for everyone.
Example email to the new employer, if you decide to stay:
Hi [name], I'm writing to let you know I won't be joining [company] on [start date]. After I resigned, my current employer made changes to my role that I decided to accept. I'm sorry for the trouble this causes, and I'm grateful for the time you and [names] spent with me. I'll return the signed offer documents if you need them back.
Keep it short and take responsibility. Don't blame the recruiter or invent a family reason. The guide to declining a job offer has more versions of this email.
How do you decline a counteroffer?
Thank your manager, say no clearly, and confirm your last day. You don't need to give every reason or argue about the numbers. A short, warm answer keeps the relationship intact, which matters for references and for the chance you return one day. Put your answer in writing after you say it in person.
Example script for the meeting:
"Thank you for putting this together. It means a lot that you wanted me to stay. I've thought about it carefully, and I'm going to take the new role. My last day will still be [date], and I'll make sure the handover is complete before then."
Example follow-up email:
Hi [name], thank you again for the offer you made today. I've decided to go ahead with my move, so my last day remains [date]. Over the next [number] days I'll document [projects] and walk [colleague] through [task]. I've valued working with you and the team.
If you have not written your formal notice yet, the guide to writing a resignation letter has templates. Keep the letter factual: the date, your last day and a line of thanks.
How do you accept a counteroffer the right way?
Get every term in writing before you say yes, then tell the other employer the same day. Ask for a signed letter with the new pay, title, start date and any promised change. Set a date, for example three to six months out, when you and your manager will check whether the promised changes happened.
Example email to your manager:
Hi [name], thank you for the offer to stay. I'd like to accept. Could you send a letter confirming the salary of [amount] from [date], the title [title], and the change to [reason] we discussed? Once I have it, I'll let the other company know today. Could we also set a check-in for [month]?
Write the check-in date in your own calendar too. If the promised change has not happened by then, you will know it in time to act.
How can you avoid a counteroffer catching you off guard?
Decide before you resign whether any counteroffer would change your mind, and what it would take. Write that number and those conditions down. If nothing would change your mind, say so kindly when you resign: "I've made my decision and I'm not looking for a counteroffer." That sentence saves both sides a hard week.
Be ready to explain the move in future interviews too. Recruiters often ask why you are leaving your current job, and a stay-then-leave story needs a clear, short answer. If you do take the new role, the free resume optimizer rewrites the lines that matter for your next posting and keeps the facts. Prept's Mock room lets you practise that answer out loud on a clock before the next interview.