Or the counteroffer is to retain the person until the completion of an immediate project. It could be that the short-term loss of an individual exceeds the extr

Or the counteroffer is to retain the person until the completion of an immediate project. It could be that the short-term loss of an individual exceeds the extra cost of a raise, but the long-term cost exceeds the benefits. More likely, it's a case of non-generalizability. Profitable companies can normally afford to counter-offer in specific cases, but if the resulting raise became a rule in like-for-like employee relationships, the collective increase in payroll would not be affordable.