How do I weigh a counteroffer, evaluate the whole package? Ask HR Johnny C. Taylor Jr.October 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM 0 Johnny C. Taylor Jr. tackles your human resources questions as part of a series for USA TODAY.
- - How do I weigh a counteroffer, evaluate the whole package? Ask HR
Johnny C. Taylor Jr.October 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM
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Johnny C. Taylor Jr. tackles your human resources questions as part of a series for USA TODAY. Taylor is president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest HR professional society and author of "Reset: A Leader's Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval."
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Question: I recently received an offer from a new company for a position comparable to my current job, but at a higher pay rate. When I turned in my notice to my employer, they reached out a day later, offering to match my new salary if I chose to stay. I had a similar experience once before. If my company values me at that level, shouldn't they have offered a raise sooner? – Archer
Employers that wait for resignations to show employee appreciation risk losing credibility and trust. Even if matching your offer convinces you to stay, the damage may already be done.
Answer: It's natural to wonder why your employer matched your worth only after you resigned ‒ but compensation isn't that simple. HR departments don't operate like airlines, with dynamic pricing algorithms, so employers can't constantly adjust salaries to match every new offer on the market. Pay is typically reviewed on a cycle ‒ often annually ‒ against market benchmarks, budgets, and overall company performance.
That means, yes, you might be "worth" more to another employer at a given moment. Each of us could be recruited tomorrow and offered more money elsewhere. That doesn't necessarily mean your current company undervalues you. If your pay is already within a competitive range based on market data, your employer isn't at fault for not matching an outside offer until now. But if you were clearly underpaid, based on objective market analysis, and the company responds only when an outside offer calls attention to it, that's a flawed compensation practice.
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Here's the other side: Employers that wait for resignations to show employee appreciation risk losing credibility and trust. Even if matching your offer convinces you to stay, the damage may already be done. Recognition that arrives only in reaction to your imminent departure rarely feels genuine.
Also ‒ and this is important ‒ if you're weighing a counteroffer, I encourage you to take a step back and evaluate the entire package, beyond just salary. Consider benefits, flexibility, mentorship opportunities, company culture, leadership stability, and growth potential. Sometimes the better long-term career move isn't the one that pays the most today.
The best approach for both sides, the employer and the employee, is open communication. Employers should proactively assess their salary structure and retention risks; employees should regularly share their goals and expectations instead of assuming performance alone speaks for itself.
So, should your company have offered you a raise sooner? Maybe. But pay decisions are rarely black-and-white. What matters most is whether your employer is committed to valuing you consistently ‒ not just when you threaten to leave.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After a new job offer, should I weigh a counteroffer?
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