Counteroffers in recruitment: The Truth, the Facts, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

A counteroffer is an attempt by your existing employer to persuade you to stay after you've decided to leave. It might include a salary increase, improved commission, promotion, flexible working or career-development commitments. Counteroffers are common, consequential, and rarely as straightforward as they first appear.

• Accepting a counteroffer isn't automatically wrong - rejecting one isn't automatically right. What matters is whether anything fundamental has genuinely changed.

• The CIPD Labour Market Outlook (Summer 2023) found that 40% of UK employers had made a counteroffer in the previous 12 months, with 38% matching the prospective employer's salary and 40% offering more.

• Widely repeated attrition statistics are often unverified. Analyse your own situation rather than relying on recruitment folklore.

• Get any agreed changes in writing before reversing a resignation. A verbal promise is not a career plan.

• Your recruiter shouldn't make this decision for you. A good Rec2Rec consultant helps you think clearly, not steer you toward a commission.

Why Do recruitment Companies Make Counteroffers?

Agencies issue counteroffers to safeguard immediate billings, protect live client relationships, and avoid the high replacement costs of experienced consultants. An established recruiter carries valuable market knowledge, candidate networks and billing capability. Replacing that person takes time and money, and with 67% of UK employers planning to recruit new staff (StandOut CV, 2024), the competition for experienced recruiters is real.

So a counteroffer isn't automatically cynical. Sometimes a resignation genuinely makes a business realise:

"We don't want to lose this person."

That's potentially the good part. But there's a bigger question you need to answer first.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

When is a counteroffer worth considering?

Sometimes accepting a counteroffer is entirely rational. If salary genuinely was the problem and you like your manager, clients, market and working arrangements, a permanent correction to your package deserves serious consideration. Similarly, if you're being offered a clearly defined promotion, improved commission structure or different market, that may represent real change. The key word is genuinely. Not vaguely discussed. Not promised for some unspecified future date. Something concrete you can properly evaluate.

A counteroffer can also prompt a useful reassessment. Once you compare both propositions properly, you may realise the new role gives up more than you initially thought. That's valuable information. You shouldn't move simply because you've already resigned.

What does more money fail to fix?

This is where recruiters need to be honest with themselves. Management style: another £7,500 probably won't change it. No genuine progression: a salary increase doesn't create a career path. Wrong culture: more money doesn't shift it. Struggling desk: a higher basic doesn't create vacancies. Lost trust in leadership: money doesn't automatically repair it.

The CIPD advised employers to consider their wider employment proposition, including flexibility, benefits, training, development and progression, rather than focusing purely on pay. That's equally sound advice for someone receiving a counteroffer.

Why did it take your resignation to make this happen?

You asked for a salary review. Nothing happened. You discussed progression. Nothing happened. You explained you felt undervalued. Nothing happened. Then you resigned and suddenly everything appears possible.

"Why wasn't this possible before I resigned?"

There may be a good explanation. Circumstances and budgets change, businesses reassess priorities and employers sometimes get things wrong. But understand the answer before reversing your decision.

What Does the Evidence Actually Say About Counteroffers?

You've probably seen claims such as:

"80% of people accepting a counteroffer leave within six months."

Or:

"90% are gone within a year."

Be careful with statistics that can't be traced to credible primary research. The CIPD Labour Market Outlook (Summer 2023) provides a more nuanced picture. The CIPD survey records that 45% of employers believed counteroffers were effective at retaining employees for 12 months or more, while 29% believed they were ineffective. This does not mean 45% of employees who accepted counteroffers stayed for at least 12 months. The CIPD survey records employer opinion about counteroffer effectiveness, not a measured employee retention rate. The same research found that 51% of employers using counteroffers had increased the level of counteroffers made during the previous 12 months.

Ignore the folklore. Analyse your own situation. Our UK Recruitment Market Report 2026 provides current context on hiring conditions that's worth reading alongside any career decision.

How to Evaluate a Counteroffer as a Candidate

Don't simply compare current salary plus counteroffer against a new salary. Compare the complete propositions across every dimension that matters to you.

Step 1: List your original reasons for leaving. Write them down. Be specific. Salary, commission thresholds, OTE, desk potential, clients, pipeline, management style, culture, flexibility, career progression, business stability and your level of trust in leadership all belong on the list.

Step 2: Map the counteroffer against each reason. For every reason you listed, ask whether the counteroffer directly addresses it. A salary increase that doesn't touch your management concern or career path is a partial answer, not a solution.

Step 3: Get the agreed changes confirmed in writing. If salary, commission, title, responsibilities or working arrangements are changing, understand exactly what's been agreed. Don't make a major career decision based on "don't worry, we'll sort that."

Step 4: Assess the new opportunity on its own merits. The case for staying put isn't always the best career move. Compare the complete new proposition: realistic OTE, desk and market potential, management, culture, flexibility, progression and business stability.

Step 5: Ask the defining question. If there had been no counteroffer, would you still believe accepting the new job was the right decision? If the answer is yes, pay attention to that. If you're genuinely uncertain, go back to the reasons you started looking. That's often where the answer sits.

There's also an important distinction between a reactive counteroffer and a proper retention conversation. The retention conversation addresses the cause, not simply the resignation.

"What do we need to give you to stop you leaving?"

and:

"Why were you unhappy enough to consider leaving, what have we missed and can we genuinely address it?"

Personally, I'm far more interested in the second conversation.

How The Job Office Can Help

I've worked in recruitment since 1983, and one thing I've learned is that career decisions rarely fit neatly into "stay = bad" or "leave = good." At The Job Office, we don't believe the objective is simply to move recruiters from Company A to Company B. It's about helping recruiters make better career decisions.

That means looking beyond headline salary at commission, OTE, desk potential, clients, management, working arrangements and career progression. It also means understanding why you wanted to move and whether a counteroffer genuinely changes those reasons.

Your recruiter shouldn't decide whether you accept or reject a counteroffer. A good Rec2Rec specialist should acknowledge any commercial interest, help you think clearly, challenge both opportunities and support an informed decision. Sometimes the right answer is to take the new job. Sometimes it's to stay. Good advice has to leave room for both.

So if you've resigned and have a counteroffer in front of you: don't panic, don't be flattered into staying, don't be pressured into leaving. Pause. Go back to the reasons you started looking. Compare both opportunities properly. Ask the difficult questions. Then make your decision. If you need an objective sounding board, talk to Jamie today.

About the Author

Jamie Rafferty. With 40+ years in recruitment and 20+ years as a Rec2Rec specialist, I bring deep industry knowledge and a UK-wide network. Starting as a trainee consultant in 1983, I've held roles from branch manager to MD. Today I partner with agencies to secure top recruitment talent, guided by honest advice, trust, and relationships built over four decades.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why were you looking for a new recruitment role in the first place?

Before calculating a revised commission, go backwards. Was it salary, management, progression, culture, your desk, unrealistic targets, lack of flexibility, or simply feeling you'd outgrown the business? The counteroffer only matters if it genuinely solves the reason you wanted to leave. That question carries more weight than any number on a revised offer letter.

How should you professionally decline an employer's counteroffer?

Declining a counteroffer requires a clear, professional response that confirms your decision to leave while showing appreciation for the offer. Ideally, speak to your manager first, then confirm your decision in writing, including your agreed final working date. Avoid reopening salary negotiations or over-explaining your reasons. Instead, thank your employer for the opportunity and their efforts to retain you, make it clear that your decision is final, and focus the conversation on completing a professional handover. Leaving on good terms protects relationships, your reputation and potentially valuable industry connections for the future.