Counter Offers

Your current employer will often extend a counter offer after you have resigned.
Reasons companies extend a counter offer:
• Department morale suffers when people leave.
• Employee resignations do not look good on a manager's record.
• It is cheaper to give you a raise than it would be to recruit a new employee.
• The project you were working on will suffer delays because of your departure.
• Companies want to have low turnover rate.
• Companies do not want sensitive or confidential information going to a competitor.
• Companies do not want skilled professionals going to competitors.
Reasons for not accepting a counter offer:
• Aside from money, your original reasons for leaving your job may still be present after accepting a counter offer.
• The money extended to you in the counter offer often comes out of your next raise or bonus. Companies usually have strict guidelines about salary increases and promotions.
• You will not be considered a loyal employee from here on out; therefore, you will never be included in the inner circle.
• When promotion time comes around, managers remember who was loyal and who was not.
• If the company hits rough waters, you will be the first to be let go.
• You had to threaten to leave in order to receive the rewards and career path you have earned.
• Often, when you accept a counter offer, your manager will already be looking for your replacement.
• Statistically, 80% of all employees who accept a company's counter offer end up leaving that company within 6 to 9 months anyway.
• The key to avoiding the potential pitfalls of counter offers is to have open and ongoing communication with your employer about your career.
• Asking for those projects that are exciting to you lets your boss know the direction you would like to develop.
• In your periodic review, discuss your career path, ideas for training, and your interests. Be proactive.
• Keeping your boss included along the way will help at the time you give notice. There will be no surprises. Your boss will realize that your current employer is not able to give you what you need, and you will against burning a bridge.
Counter Offer Statistics

According to national surveys of employees that accept counter-offers, 50-80 percent voluntarily leave their employer within six months of accepting the counter-offer because of promises. The majority of the balance of employees that accept counter-offers involuntarily leave their current employers within twelve months of accepting the counter-offer (terminated, fired, laid off, etc.).
As attractive as counter-offers may appear, they greatly decrease your chances of achieving your career potential.