A counter offer is a new proposal made in response to an offer. In job searches the term is used two ways: your current employer makes you a counter offer to stay after you announce you are leaving, or you make a counter offer to a new employer by asking for better terms than they first proposed. This page covers both, with a decision table for the first and short scripts for each.
The honest summary: a counter offer from your current employer is worth taking only when it fixes the specific reason you started looking, and only when the fix is in writing. If the reason was not mostly money, more money rarely solves it.
Two kinds of counter offer
| From your current employer | To a new employer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who makes it | Your manager or HR, after you resign or say you have an offer | You, after receiving a job offer |
| Usual content | Raise, title change, retention bonus, new duties, schedule change | Higher base pay, signing bonus, start date, remote days, title |
| Main risk | Staying for money while the real problem stays the same | A long or poorly framed request; occasionally a withdrawn offer |
| Timing | Often within a day or two of your notice | Before the response deadline; UConn's career center notes companies often allow 2 to 10 business days to respond |
| Where to go next | The decision table and scripts below | Our step-by-step guide on how to negotiate a salary offer |
Decide your answer before you resign
The best time to think about a counter offer is before anyone makes one. Once your manager is sitting across from you with a number, it is hard to think clearly. Take ten minutes and write down:
- Every reason you started looking, in order of importance. Be specific: "I asked for a raise twice and was told to wait" is more useful than "pay."
- Which of those reasons money can fix. Pay can fix pay. It cannot fix a manager you do not trust, a role with no next step, or a commute you hate.
- What, if anything, would make you stay. Write the exact terms. If the answer is "nothing," you already know what to say.
- What you owe the new employer. If you have already signed their offer, you made a commitment. More on that below.
Decision table: can a counter offer fix your reason for leaving?
| Main reason you started looking | Can a counter offer fix it? | What it would need to include, in writing |
|---|---|---|
| Pay below market | Often yes | The new base pay and its effective date, not a promise to "look at it next cycle" |
| No promotion path | Sometimes | A new title now, or a dated review with stated criteria |
| Workload or burnout | Rarely with money alone | A named change: a hire approved, a project removed, on-call reduced |
| Manager relationship | Rarely | A transfer to a different team, confirmed with the receiving manager |
| Want remote or a different schedule | Sometimes | The arrangement written into an agreement or policy exception, not a verbal "we'll be flexible" |
| Want different work or a new field | Usually not | A real role change, which most teams cannot create overnight |
| Company stability worries | No | A raise does not change the company's finances |
| Values or culture conflict | No | Nothing in a counter offer changes the culture |
If most of your reasons land in the "rarely" or "no" rows, a counter offer is mainly a delay. If pay was the main issue and the offer fixes it fully and immediately, staying can be a sound choice.
Risks of accepting a counter offer from your current employer
- The original problem stays. Our resignation letter guide makes the same point: a higher salary does not fix a workload, manager, or growth problem.
- A raise now can replace a raise later. Ask whether the counter is in addition to your normal review increase or instead of it.
- Your manager now knows you were looking. Some managers handle this well. Others may plan around you. You cannot know in advance which kind you have.
- No job security comes with it. Most US employment is at will. As Cornell's Legal Information Institute explains, at-will employment has no set period, and either side can end it at any time for almost any reason that is not illegal. A raise to keep you does not change that unless you sign an agreement that says otherwise.
- The new employer relationship. If you already accepted their offer, backing out costs you that contact and possibly a recruiter relationship. UC Berkeley's career center calls reneging on an accepted offer unethical and warns students in on-campus recruiting that it can cost them Handshake access.
When accepting can make sense
- Pay was the main reason, and the counter brings you to or above the new offer, effective now.
- The counter includes a non-money change you actually wanted, such as a new role or team, confirmed in writing.
- You had not yet accepted the outside offer, so you are not breaking a commitment.
- You like the work and the people, and you can say honestly that you would not keep looking after a raise.
Our job offer decision matrix can help you score both options on the same factors instead of comparing salary alone.
Get the counter offer in writing
A verbal promise during a tense conversation is easy to misremember on both sides. Before you say yes, ask for written confirmation of:
- New base pay and the date it starts
- Title, if it changes, and when it appears in the HR system
- Any retention bonus, when it pays, and whether you must repay it if you leave within a set period
- Specific changes to duties, team, schedule, or remote days
- Whether your next regular review and raise still happen on schedule
Scripts you can adapt
These are samples. Change the wording so it sounds like you.
Declining a counter offer from your current employer
"Thank you. I appreciate that you want me to stay, and it means a lot. I have thought it through and my decision is final. I'd like to spend my remaining time making the handoff as smooth as possible."
Asking for time to consider
"I appreciate this. I'd like to give it real thought rather than answer on the spot. Can you send it to me in writing? I'll give you my answer by Thursday."
Only ask for time if you are genuinely open to staying. If you are not, a quick, kind no is fairer to everyone.
Accepting the counter and telling the new employer
To your manager: "Thank you. I accept the updated offer as written, and I'm glad to stay. I'd like to talk next month about the workload issues I raised, too."
To the new employer, by phone first and then by email: "Thank you for your offer and for your time. After careful thought, I've decided to stay in my current role. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this causes, and I'm grateful for how you treated me in the process." Our guide on how to decline a job offer has more versions.
Making a counter offer to a new employer
"Thank you for the offer. I'm excited about the role. Based on my experience leading [specific work] and the range for similar roles in this area, I'd like to ask for a base salary of $[number]. If we can get there, I'm ready to accept."
Keep it to one clear request with one reason. The negotiation guide linked above covers how to research the number, what to ask for when base pay is fixed, and how to respond to a no. UConn's career center also advises asking for a revised written offer whenever terms change.
Telling a new employer you have a counter offer
Use this only if it is true and you would genuinely consider their offer improved: "My current employer has made a counter offer. Your role is still my first choice. Is there any flexibility on base pay?" Do not invent a counter offer to gain leverage. Recruiters talk, and it can backfire if they ask for details.
Situations that change the math
- Government, union, or fixed pay-scale jobs. Pay is often set by a published scale or contract, so a manager may have little room to counter with money. A counter in these settings, if any, is more likely to be a different assignment or schedule.
- Unvested equity or a bonus about to pay out. If leaving now forfeits money you were close to earning, that is a real cost. Ask the new employer whether a signing bonus can offset it before you weigh a counter.
- Remote workers. If your current employer is calling people back to the office, a counter that keeps your remote setup only helps if it is written down as an exception, not a temporary favor.
- Two outside offers at once. That is a choice between new employers, not a counter offer. Compare them side by side using our guide on comparing job offers beyond salary.
Mistakes to avoid
- Resigning to get a raise. If you only want more pay where you are, ask for a raise directly. Using a resignation as a bargaining chip can end with your resignation accepted. Our guide on how to ask for a raise covers the direct route.
- Accepting on the spot. Even a good counter deserves a night's sleep and a written version.
- Telling coworkers the details. Keep the negotiation between you, your manager, and HR.
- Forgetting your notice period. If you decline, your resignation still stands. Keep working professionally through your last day.
- Leaving the new employer hanging. Whatever you decide, tell them promptly.