When your boss offers a raise upon leaving, should you stay?

Of course it’s not worth it; staying will only invite trouble.

Some people think they should decide based on the actual situation. After all, if the boss is willing to give a raise, then just wait it out and accept the higher salary for now.

But knowing that this kind of raise is just a temporary tactic by the company, staying and wasting your time isn’t a wise choice.

For workers, resigning is always a carefully considered decision—either they’ve already found a better job or they simply want to leave.

So, if you’ve made up your mind to leave, staying just for a temporary raise will only create hidden problems for your future work.

1. First, let’s put ourselves in the boss’s shoes: how do they view resignation?

When an employee announces their departure, the company immediately offers a raise to keep them. This isn’t because the company is reluctant to lose the employee, but because they can’t find a suitable replacement in the short term.

In the boss’s eyes, you’re only valuable temporarily; they need your value now, not because of who you are as a person.

Bosses are quite shrewd—talking about dreams and the future with you every day, treating you like a brother or buddy, is just a way to draw a big pie and spend less on you.

Many companies will consider this. Once an employee announces their resignation, they might start to guard against you, knowing you probably won’t stay long and are just staying for a short-term raise.

When the company is ready, has recruited someone suitable, they might find ways to cut your salary, marginalize you, or even dismiss you outright—that’s quite normal.

There are also many bosses who genuinely like their employees and offer raises out of reluctance to see them go. But such cases are rare, as the current job market is quite realistic.

2. Next, from the employee’s perspective: does asking for a raise when resigning really lead to a long-term benefit?

Everyone knows that job-hopping is for better opportunities, and raises are for higher pay over time. Everyone hopes to keep earning a high salary, not just for a month or two.

Today, you can ask for a raise when resigning, and the company might give it immediately. But tomorrow, will you need to threaten resignation again to get the salary you want?

You need to be clear whether your reason for leaving has been fully resolved. If not, and you’re just delaying, it’s better to leave sooner rather than later.

It’s not worth staying just to get a short-term raise, especially if you’ve already received an offer from another company. Long-term career development should be the priority.

3. Finally, resignation and salary increase are two separate matters—they shouldn’t be used as bargaining chips.

Many employees think, “If I can get a raise by resigning, I might as well threaten to leave a few times for a higher salary.”

This is a pretty naive idea.

Because no boss is willing to give employees a raise voluntarily—either the employee has exceptional abilities, or they provide short-term value that the company needs.

Other than that, raises are rarely about work performance.

If switching jobs is the only way to get a raise, it just shows that the employee’s value is temporarily indispensable, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always be so. It might even make the company see it as a form of coercion.

So, when your boss offers a raise after you resign, don’t rush to accept. First, consider your reasons for leaving and your current career plan before making a final decision.