How to handle a lowball job offer

Is it really low? Check it against the ad and the market

An offer feels low when it misses the number in your head. Before you respond, check that number against evidence:

• The ad. If it gave a range, where does the offer sit? An offer at the bottom of an advertised range is not a lowball, but it leaves room to ask for the middle.
• Similar roles. Look at the pay on comparable ads on Seek, LinkedIn and Indeed, and ask a recruiter who places people in your field what they are seeing.
• Your current pay. An offer below what you earn now is a real problem if you are employed. If you are between jobs, weigh it against what you are living on today and how long your search could run.
• The whole package. A lower base can come with employer KiwiSaver above 3.5%, a bonus, extra leave or medical cover. Our article on comparing two job offers shows how to put a package on the same basis as salary.

If the offer is fair on those tests, you can still ask for more, but your case will rest on what you bring rather than on the market.

Your first reply: thanks, time, and a question

The first reply matters most, and it should not include a number. Say you are pleased, ask for the offer in writing if you do not have it, and take a day or two. For an individual employment agreement, the Employment Relations Act 2000 requires the employer to give you a copy of the intended agreement and a reasonable opportunity to get independent advice, and to consider and respond to any issues you raise. Asking for time is normal.

The last question does real work. The answer tells you whether the number is fixed by a band, set by a budget, or simply an opening position.

Countering with a number and a reason

When you come back, name one number, not a range, because a range invites them to pick the bottom. Give one reason they can repeat to whoever approves it: the advertised range, the scope of the role, a skill they said they needed, or what you earn now.

Then stop talking. At 2026/27 rates, with ACC at 1.75% and KiwiSaver at 3.5%, that $6,000 is worth $3,885 a year in take-home pay: about $149 a fortnight without a student loan, or about $122 with one. It is worth one uncomfortable minute.

In Everything mode, the fuller of the app's two views, jobtracker.co.nz keeps every figure each side puts on the table against the job, dated, and shows how far the offer moved from the first one. The Negotiation Coach, part of On the Move, turns your real offer and your evidence into the words for the phone call and the email that follows. Our guide to salary negotiation in New Zealand covers the whole conversation.

When pay cannot move: what else can

Sometimes the base really is fixed, by a band or a budget. That is when to ask for one other thing, not all of these:

• A pay review at six months, in writing, with what you need to show to earn the rise.
• Extra annual leave. The legal minimum is four weeks after twelve months; a fifth week is roughly 2% of salary in time.
• Employer KiwiSaver above 3.5%, a training budget, or a professional membership paid for.
• Flexibility, such as fewer office days, which can be worth more than a small rise once you count commuting.
• A later start date, if a break between jobs matters to you.

Whatever you agree, get it into the offer letter or the agreement before you sign. A promise of a review that exists only in a phone call is easily forgotten.

Walking away well

If the offer will not reach a figure you can live with, it is fine to say no. Decide your walk-away number before the conversation, not during it, and base it on what you need and what else is realistically on offer.

Declining this way leaves the door open. Sometimes an employer comes back with a better number, or gets in touch when the next role opens.

Keep every number on the table in one place