That doesn’t mean they take issue with hustling. Some 61% say using a job offer from another company for the sole purpose of receiving a pay raise is an ethical practice.

Trevor Hay did it twice. Now, he’s earning nearly $100,000 more than he was just three months ago. Back then, the 30-year-old from Washington state felt stuck in his old role. He works in a segment of the nuclear industry where years of experience correlate highly with salary. Breaking out of that rubric would have been tough, he says, without the first outside offer he secured in early November.

It was a lateral role in the same field, promising a bump of nearly $30,000. Hay took the offer to his boss and asked if the company could match. They got close, so he stayed put.

For a few weeks, that is. Hay was soon enticed by a role at yet another firm, offering not just a 30% pay raise but also a step up in responsibilities. He took the second offer to his boss, who said that unfortunately, they just couldn’t go that high.

So Hay left in January. He’s happy with his new job, at a firm that is still looking to hire yet more people. He attributes his good luck to a mix of the tight job market, good timing, and a steady strategy. He wanted a raise at his first firm, but knew he had to keep performing; otherwise his boss wouldn’t have tried to keep him. He wanted more responsibilities, so kept getting more training and qualifications for a more senior role and felt ready from day one.

“The first increase was when I had just had my third child,” he said. “I was looking around, asking, ‘What else could I do to make some more money?’ So I applied the strategy and it worked great.”

It’s not just about wages. Nick Conn used an outside offer to get more money and better benefits. He started his career at a computer consulting company in Richmond, Ky. After six years, he says he was hoping to move into a management position and had told his boss in 2020. But with few signs of any changes to his day-to-day work by the summer of 2021, the 30-year-old decided it was time to try something else.

Conn secured another job offer for a similar role with a 25% raise, better benefits and four weeks of paid time off. But when he told his company he was going to leave, they gave him a counter-offer he couldn’t turn down: The company matched the raise and time off, and promoted him to a management role.

“It was a fast forward of my career by like three years,” he said.

The strategy is risky.

Nora Serino spent four years working at a Bed Bath & Beyond in Seattle, ultimately climbing into a management position. But at 28, she wanted to buy a house and needed more than her $45,000 annual salary.