One in five marketing and ad executives (20%) say it has become more common in the past six months for their company to issue counteroffers to employees who have received other job offers, according to a recent report from The Creative Group.

That compares with just 5% of respondents who say counteroffers have become less common and 33% who say there has been no change.

However, over one-third of respondents (38%) say their company still does not extend counteroffers to employees who are thinking of leaving.

Below, additional key findings from the report, which was based on data from a survey of 400 US marketing and advertising executives.

Why Counteroffer?

• 39% of respondents say the main reason to issue a counteroffer is to avoid losing an employee with hard-to-find skills.
• 27% do not want to lose a tenured employee with knowledge of the company.
• 12% want to avoid the cost of turnover.

Do They Accept?

67% of respondents who have extended a counteroffer say it is somewhat or very common for employees to accept the bid.

Concerns

• 28% of respondents say they would question the loyalty of an employee who accepted a counteroffer.
• 21% say they worry the offer might not address the issues prompting the staff member to leave.

About the research: The report was based on data from 400 telephone interviews: 200 with US marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees, and 200 with US advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.