Offers of more money are often not enough to retain staff in a competitive labour market.

A survey by online job search firm Seek has found only a quarter (26 per cent) of candidates would accept a counter offer from an existing employer and for those that do, more than half (57 per cent) would leave their job within a year.

Money is a consideration, with more than half of employees expecting their employer to offer a wage increase of at least 10 per cent, or an improvement in their job and a pay rise to match.

The tight labour market and skills shortage was a challenge for would-be employers, with record low unemployment of 3.2 per cent and annual wage growth the strongest since 2009.

Seek career coach Leah Lambart says most departing staff are not necessarily looking for more than money.

"Often people feel underappreciated in their roles ... a lack of career progression ... non financial reasons, like lack of flexibility ... a move up the career ladder, or just a change."

Accepting a counter offer also carried risks in the workplace, such as a negative reaction from other employees, with 10 per cent of those surveyed feeling counter offers were unacceptable, while just 12 per cent reacted favourably to another colleague receiving a counter offer.

Lambart says there are also risks for employees to consider when accepting a counter offer, which could potentially be damaging to their workplace relationships.

"And one of the reasons is that it can erode trust and confidence between the employee and their manager as they obviously know then that the person is perhaps not as loyal as they thought they were."

-RNZ.