WASHINGTON — With competition for top talent fierce, the counteroffer is back. But they don’t really work in the long run for the company, and taking it can end up backfiring for you.

Employees who have a job offer but accept a counteroffer from their current employer end up leaving in an average of 1.7 years anyway, according to placement firm Robert Half.

“All you can really solve most of the time with a counteroffer is increasing an employee’s compensation. But, generally, if they’re looking for a new job, there are more reasons that they’re looking than just money,” Josh Howarth at Robert Half’s D.C. regional office told WTOP.

In other words, before taking that pay raise that matches or beats your new offer, consider all the reasons why you want to leave your current job in the first place, whether you’ve been actively looking for one or if the offer from another company came unsolicited.

Taking that counteroffer and deciding to stay might also change things for the employee for the worse.

“Your manager or employer may now always question your loyalty to the firm. So, that could impact their confidence in you for new projects or new opportunities down the road,” Howarth said.

Even so, 58 percent of managers say the counteroffer is now a common tool companies use to keep top talent from taking a job elsewhere.