I've made some counter-offers in my time as a manager, but I've never had a counter-offer accepted. For a start: everyone resigns because of multiple factors,

I've made some counter-offers in my time as a manager, but I've never had a counter-offer accepted. For a start: everyone resigns because of multiple factors, and money is of course one of them - but when handing in their resignation, in order to leave on a positive note they'll focus on factors outside of anyone's control. Usually people tell me they're leaving because of something like because they want to explore new challenges, or that they just feel that it's time for a change, or because a shorter commute will give them more time with their kids. Such reasons do not invite a counter-offer. You want to spend more time with your kids? Good for you! I won't try to argue you out of it. For another thing, when someone offers their resignation you only have a few hours to pull together a counter-offer - so on the occasions when I was able to make counter-offers, they were pretty meagre. I always get my team as close to the top of the salary range for their role as I can, so there's no headroom for anything big without getting a bunch approvals for a special exception. And finally, a lot of people who leave get offers that are kinda good, or at least good for their situation. If a kid's leaving my employer, who most people haven't heard of, for somewhere like OpenAI? That recognisable brand might well be great for their career. Leaving to get a PhD? Great, so long as they know what it really involves. And if I wouldn't council them to stay, I'm not going to be able to sell a counter-offer persuasively.