"The best counteroffer is the one you didn't have to make." How an IT worker can understand when it's time to quit, and why money doesn't always keep people

Dismissal does not begin with an offer

For years, there has been a myth in the professional environment that regular job changes automatically accelerate career growth. However, in practice, everything is not so clear-cut. Head of HR Ciklum Ukraine Ksenia Bogatyrevich points out that frequent transitions between companies can broaden your horizons, but they do not always provide an opportunity to immerse yourself deeply enough in the product, architecture or full development cycle. According to her, most often thoughts of dismissal appear simultaneously with a feeling of stagnation, exhaustion or loss of motivation. However, this does not mean that the problem necessarily lies with the employer.

In her opinion, one of the most common mistakes is to silently look for a new job without even trying to solve the problem within the current company. As a result, a specialist may face the same difficulties in a new place in a year or two.

Daryna Kuzmyk, Talent & Culture Lead at Railsware, shares a similar view. She believes that the thought of quitting is often not a solution in itself, but a signal to reassess one’s own situation. Before entering the market, she advises to honestly answer a few questions: is the person continuing to develop in their role, does they see the next career step, has they spoken openly with their manager about fatigue or loss of motivation, and is the problem really related to the company, and not to accumulated stress or a change in personal priorities.

In the case of Railsware, an additional advantage is that the company creates several products, so colleagues often have the opportunity to try themselves in a different domain, move to another product within the same role, or even change the direction of work itself. Of course, if this meets both the needs of the business and the professional interests of the person. Often, it is this change of context that helps to restore motivation and a sense of development without the need to change the company. And we have more than one case of a change of direction based on the interests of a specialist: for example, a QA became a product manager, and a content writer mastered data analytics, etc., «says Daria.

Despite their different company experiences, both interviewees actually describe the same pattern: most layoffs don’t start with a new offer or even a salary review, but much earlier — when a person stops seeing their next step within the company. That’s why both Ciklum and Railsware advise conducting a kind of internal audit first.

Three steps to take before quitting

Ksenia Bogatyrevich offers a simple verification algorithm.

The first step is to honestly identify the source of the problem. What exactly is the specialist missing: a new technology stack, stronger mentorship, a move to a product or service company, new tasks, or perhaps a regular vacation.

The second is open communication. According to the HR director of Ciklum Ukraine, it is much more profitable for companies to retain a strong specialist than to spend time and resources on searching for and onboarding a new employee. That is why managers and HR are often ready to look for a solution if they know about the problem.

The third step is to look for new opportunities within the company. It’s not just about a promotion. It could be a new project, a different team, a different technology stack, or even a change in professional direction.

Railsware says that changing the context often helps to regain motivation without changing employers. The company has had cases where QA specialists moved to product management, and content writers to data analytics.

Before making a decision about changing jobs, Daria advises asking yourself a few questions:

• Am I still learning and developing in my role?
• Do I understand what my next step in growth is?
• Have I spoken openly with my manager about my needs, fatigue, or loss of motivation?
• Is the problem really with the company, or perhaps with overwork, accumulated stress, or changing personal priorities?
• Have I used all the development opportunities available within the team or company?

However, the interlocutors admit that there are also situations when the best solution is to fire someone. If, after an open dialogue, the company honestly admits that it cannot currently offer the necessary development, a new role, a technological stack, or financial conditions, then moving on is quite logical. «Sometimes the best solution for professional growth is a change of environment. And that’s normal,» states Daryna Kuzmyk.

Why Counteroffer Almost Never Solves the Real Problem

Many still perceive counteroffers as a universal tool for employee retention. The logic is simple: a person receives an external offer, the company offers more money — and the problem is solved.

However, in practice, the situation is much more complicated. IT Recruitment Director & Head of Talent Office ZONE3000 Viktoriya Tomchynska says that counteroffers are not a widespread practice for the company. According to internal statistics, such cases account for less than 2% per year. The reason is simple: the decision on a counteroffer depends on many factors — the level of expertise of the specialist, his role in the team, impact on the product, the complexity of the potential replacement and the prospects for further cooperation.

At the same time, both ZONE3000 and Railsware emphasize that the problem is almost never limited to salary. Often, the desire to change jobs is due to completely different reasons — lack of professional development, desire to work with new technologies, new career ambitions, or banal fatigue from the current context.

That is why a modern counteroffer increasingly rarely means just a review of compensation.

When the counteroffer works

ZONE3000 recalls one case where a specialist received an external offer with a broader area of ​​responsibility that matched his professional interests and career plans well.

The company couldn’t immediately offer a similar set of challenges, but it had a clear vision of how this area could develop within the business over the next year. As a result, the employee was offered a detailed development plan, a phased review of compensation, a future role in a new project, and an expanded area of ​​responsibility. In this case, the decisive factor was not money, but a transparent understanding of what his career trajectory would look like.

This example clearly demonstrates the change that has occurred in the labor market in recent years. While retention was often associated with a salary increase in the past, today more and more companies are trying to address the causes of dissatisfaction even before a person opens LinkedIn and starts interviewing.

Railsware also emphasizes that a counteroffer should not destroy the balance within the team. If the offer contradicts the internal logic of compensation or does not correspond to the real level of influence of the specialist, it is more correct to honestly let the person go than to keep them at any cost.

The best counteroffer is the one that didn’t exist.

Despite the different approaches of companies, all dev.ua interlocutors ultimately come to a similar conclusion. Most layoffs begin not when a person receives a new offer, but much earlier — when they stop seeing development prospects, lose motivation, or accumulate problems that no one talks about out loud.

Therefore, the decision to resign should be made only after an honest conversation with yourself and your employer. If the opportunities for development are truly exhausted, moving on is perfectly fine. But if the problem is a lack of dialogue, changing companies may only be a temporary relief.

And perhaps the main conclusion from the conversation with HR and recruiting professionals sounds quite unexpected: the most effective counteroffer is not extra money after receiving an external offer. The best counteroffer is one that the company did not have to make at all because the employee’s needs were noticed and discussed before he started looking for a new job.

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