Employment Counter-Offers

You’re convinced you’re underpaid and politely ask for a salary increase, which you do not receive. Deciding it’s time to move on, you conduct a job search and land an offer for a similar position with a salary higher than what you’re earning now. Your current employer learns of this and offers you a raise if you’ll stay. Your current employer has therefore made an employment counter-offer.

Counter-Offers are Flattering!

You might find it flattering as you now have not one, but two, employers that want you and want to pay you more than what you were earning before this started. If your primary motivation in making the job change was about salary, than it might be tempting to accept your company’s counter offer and stay put. Of course, if there are other reasons you were unhappy with your present employer, those will likely remain ongoing frustrations. In addition, accepting a counter-offer often changes the workplace dynamic for the staying employee as you may now be viewed as a staffer who is not in it for the long haul.

The Risk-Benefit Analysis

The extra cash just offered to you may not come with the mindset you were underpaid. It may be offered to keep you from leaving right now. Down the road, at a more convenient time, you may be let go if management believes you are now overpaid. Another possibility is that you may ultimately give back the salary gain if your employer decides to get a little stingy at your next salary review.

On the flip side, there are always some risks to accepting a position with a new employer. The new job may not turn out to be the wonderful opportunity it was advertised to be. Your new boss could be a tyrant, your new colleagues downright unfriendly, or you might have to put in 10-hour days just to keep afloat.

Making the Big Decision

Counter-offers are fast moving situations. You will need to assess whether your present employer truly values you at the level at which he or she now says they are willing to pay AND whether your initial decision to leave was all about money in the first place.

If you find yourself in this situation and would like to talk out your options, I can usually offer a same-day mini-appointment of 15-30 minutes to help you make this important decision. That appointment can be by phone. Use the contact us page to initiate communications, call, 631-673-5432, or email, mj@careersbychoice.com.