Obviously, the jilted company loses. It must restart its search from scratch. Other good prospective candidates, who might have jumped at the job earlier, have long since accepted different positions or lost interest. The company has lost months of productivity and perhaps millions of dollars in unrecoverable revenue because the position has remained unfilled for so long. Any executive recruiters involved in the search lose as well.
Counteroffers are a headhunter's nightmare.
A recruiter can lose face with a client company, a substantial amount of time and allocated resources and possibly income when a candidate backs out after accepting. In business, your reputation can be your most valuable asset. By backing out of a commitment to a prospective employer, a candidate loses all respect from the firm's leadership. After the candidate accepted the offer and committed to a start date, the firm stopped its search and announced the hiring to its staff, customers and alternate candidates, says Sterling Wilson, chief financial officer of the company. The finalist then reneged on his acceptance.