What's it like negotiating a counter-offer after you already resigned in SG? Is it worth staying?

Question

I handed in my resignation for a fintech role in Raffles Place, then my current manager suddenly came back with a 15% raise plus a retention bonus to make me stay. Now I'm confused. For those who have actually accepted a counter-offer, did it work out, or did you end up leaving anyway six months later? Want to hear real experiences, not just the usual HR-speak.

Property Agent Fiona · Accepted Answer

I took the counter-offer in 2022, a jump from 6k to 7.1k plus a 10k retention bonus with a 12-month clawback. On paper it looked great lah, but the reason I wanted to leave never went away, my scope was still the same and the same toxic reporting line stayed. By month eight I was already scanning MyCareersFuture again, and worse, my boss quietly stopped giving me the good projects because he knew I had one foot out. Statistically most people who accept still leave within a year, and I became one of them. If your unhappiness is about pay only, maybe stay, but if it's about culture or growth, the money just buys you a few uncomfortable months.

Auntie Rich CPF · Answer

Consider the new company also hor. If you already signed their offer letter and then reject them to stay, you've basically burned that bridge in a very small SG job market. Recruiters and hiring managers here all talk, especially in niche sectors like fintech or maritime. I rejected an offer to accept a counter once, and two years later the same hiring manager was interviewing me again, very awkward. Weigh whether the extra pay is worth possibly closing a door with a firm you may want to join later.

Relationship Auntie Gina · Answer

One thing nobody tells you, once you resign and get counter-offered, your relationship with your manager quietly changes. They now see you as a flight risk, and in the next retrenchment or restructuring exercise, guess whose name goes on the list first. I've seen this happen twice in my department, both colleagues accepted counter-offers and both got 'reorganised out' within 18 months with a nicer severance. So sometimes the counter-offer is just a way to buy time to replace you on their own schedule.

Working Mum Denise · Answer

I stayed and honestly it was fine, but only because my issue was genuinely pay. I had underquoted myself when I joined at 4.5k and the market had moved to 5.5k, so the counter just corrected an existing gap rather than bribing me to tolerate something bad. The key thing I did was get everything in writing, revised letter, new job grade, and confirmation that the retention bonus had no clawback. If your counter-offer is only verbal and comes with a two-year lock-in, be very careful.

Salaryman Desmond · Answer

My rule of thumb after 15 years working here, only accept a counter-offer if the reasons you were leaving are 100% solvable with what's being offered, and get it documented. Ask yourself why they only value you now that you're leaving, when you asked for a raise three months ago and got fobbed off with 'wait for the cycle'. That tells you something about how they operate. I'd rather take the clean new start than stay somewhere I've already emotionally checked out of.

What's it like negotiating a counter-offer after you already resigned in SG? Is it worth staying?

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