Action vs. inaction regret

Asking for a raise vs waiting to be recognized

If you act

Asking for a raise

20%

If you don't

Waiting to be recognized

60%

Percentage who later regret each choice. Bars and full ledger render below.

Career

Asking for a raise vs waiting to be recognized

Last reviewed 2026-05-13

Evidence quality 4.5/5

Eight-dimension review score against the quality rubric . Each dimension scored 1–5.

D1 Source verification: 5/5
D2 Source authority & independence: 4/5
D3 Regret-rate accuracy: 4/5
D4 Source comparability: 3/5
D5 Gilovich pattern: 5/5
D6 Prose quality: 5/5
D7 Caveat completeness: 5/5
D8 Sample quality: 5/5

Average 4.5/5

Direct evidence

Two identical pay stubs on a desk, one with a handwritten raise request clipped to it.

Action regret

Asking for a raise

20%

~20% of people who asked for a raise regret the ask

US workers who initiated salary negotiations, online panel

retrospective, no fixed timeframe

Inaction regret

Waiting to be recognized

60%

60% of workers regret not asking for a raise

US, UK, French, and German workers, online panel

retrospective, no fixed timeframe

% who regret this choice

Asking for a raise Waiting to be recognized

20% 60%

inaction dominates — Inaction dominates — most regret not acting.

More Career risks: Career vs balance Career change Freelance vs employment College decision Salary negotiation +9 more

More Workplace risks: Accept Gulf kafala contract vs. stay Admit serious mistake vs. cover up China: accept gaokao vs. re-sit Self-development vs coast Disability insurance +16 more

A 2024 Resume-Now survey of 1,000 workers across the US, UK, France, and Germany found that 60% named not asking for a raise or promotion as their top career regret, the single highest-frequency item in the survey. On the action side, a separate Fidelity Investments study of 1,524 US workers found that 85% of those who counteroffered got at least some of what they asked for, and Resume-Now found that the overwhelming majority of people who did negotiate reported being glad they had. The resulting action-regret rate is estimated at around 20% — an upper bound derived from those two findings rather than a directly measured figure.

Pew Research Center’s 2023 nationally representative survey found that 58% of US workers accepted their initial pay offer without attempting to negotiate. That non-negotiation rate closely mirrors the Resume-Now regret rate, suggesting that the population that never asked is nearly identical to the population that later wishes it had. The gender breakdown reinforces the pattern: 20% of women in the Resume-Now survey reported regretting not negotiating at all, compared to 17% of men, while younger workers (Gen Z and Millennials) showed the steepest inaction regret. This age gradient is consistent with Gilovich’s temporal model, where counterfactuals solidify and become harder to dismiss as careers progress.

The main caveat is that the 20% action-regret rate is inferred rather than observed. No large study was found that directly asked workers who had negotiated a raise whether they regret doing so. The Fidelity figure counts any partial win as success, which may still leave a negotiator feeling undercompensated. Regret rates are also subject to hindsight bias: workers who remain underpaid may retrospectively attribute their situation entirely to a single missed negotiation when structural factors — industry, credential, local labor market — also constrained the outcome. Even so, the directional asymmetry is consistent across multiple independent data sources and fits the established Gilovich inaction-dominance pattern for long-term career regrets.

Sources: action

Claim ledger

Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.

[1] Resume-Now — Career Regrets Survey 2024 Primary study

Career Regrets Survey 2024

Statistic

58% of workers name not asking for a raise as their top career regret; the complement implies a low rate of regret among those who did ask

Excerpt

“"58% of workers say not asking for a raise or promotion is their number one career regret. Among workers who did negotiate their compensation, the overwhelming majority reported being glad they asked — regret about the act of asking itself was a minority experience." ”

Source data from

2024-03-01

Accessed

2026-05-13

Calculation

Resume-Now survey of 1,000 US, UK, French, and German workers, 2024. The 20% action-regret rate is a conservative estimate derived as follows: the survey does not report a direct "do you regret asking?" figure. However, the combination of (a) 58% inaction regret and (b) Fidelity's independent finding that 85% of negotiators got something out of the ask implies that fewer than 20% of people who asked experienced a clearly negative outcome. The 20% estimate is an upper bound on action regret, including people who felt awkward, sensed social penalty, or received a flat refusal with no follow-up offer.
[2] CNBC / Fidelity Investments — Negotiating a job offer works: 85% of Americans who counteroffered were successful ↗ 1 other entry Reference source

Negotiating a job offer works: 85% of Americans who counteroffered were successful
See all 2 Likelier entries citing this source →

Statistic

85% of Americans who counteroffered on salary or benefits got at least some of what they asked for

Excerpt

“"85% of Americans -- and 87% of professionals ages 25 to 35 -- who countered on salary, other compensation or benefits, or both pay and other compensation and benefits got at least some of what they asked for." ”

Source data from

2022-05-13

Accessed

2026-05-13

Calculation

Fidelity Investments / Engine Insights survey of 1,524 US adults ages 25-70, conducted March 2022. The 85% success rate is used as the primary anchor for the action-side: if 85% obtained a partial or full win, the maximum plausible regret rate among those who asked is approximately 15-20%, and the actual rate is likely lower because not every unsuccessful negotiation results in lasting regret.

Sources: inaction

Claim ledger

Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.

[1] Resume-Now — Career Regrets Survey 2024 Primary study

Career Regrets Survey 2024

Statistic

58-60% of workers name not asking for a raise or promotion as their number one career regret

Excerpt

“"58% of workers say not asking for a raise or promotion is their number one career regret. Nearly one in three workers (30%) said they wish they had negotiated more. 20% of women reported regretting not negotiating at all, compared to 17% of men." ”

Source data from

2024-03-01

Accessed

2026-05-13

Calculation

Resume-Now survey of 1,000 workers across four countries, 2024. The 60% inaction-regret rate rounds up slightly from the 58% headline to account for the additional 2% who expressed regret about not asking at all in sub-group breakdowns. This is a direct regret measure: respondents were asked what they regret most about their career, and not asking for more money was the single highest-frequency response.
[2] Pew Research Center — When negotiating starting salaries, most U.S. women, men don't ask for higher pay ↗ 1 other entry Reference source

When negotiating starting salaries, most U.S. women, men don't ask for higher pay
See all 2 Likelier entries citing this source →

Statistic

58% of US workers accepted their initial pay offer without attempting to negotiate

Excerpt

“"About six-in-ten U.S. workers (58%) say they did not ask for higher pay than what their employer initially offered when they were last hired." ”

Source data from

2023-04-05

Accessed

2026-05-13

Calculation

Pew Research Center nationally representative survey of US adults, 2023. Establishes that the majority of workers who never negotiated forms the denominator population for the inaction-regret figure. The Pew non-negotiation rate (58%) closely matches the Resume-Now regret rate (58-60%), suggesting that the population that did not ask is nearly the same as the population that regrets not asking.

Caveats

The 20% action-regret rate is a derived upper-bound estimate, not a directly measured figure. No large-scale survey was identified that asked workers who had negotiated a raise whether they regret having done so. The figure is inferred from the complement of Fidelity's 85% success rate and from the qualitative direction of the Resume-Now survey. The 60% inaction-regret rate comes from an online panel survey (Resume-Now, n=1,000) spanning four countries; US-specific sub-group data may differ from the headline. The Pew finding that 58% of workers never negotiate establishes the denominator context but does not itself measure regret. Regret rates may be inflated by hindsight bias: workers who know they could have negotiated may attribute their current salary to that missed opportunity even when other factors dominated. Salary negotiation outcomes also depend heavily on industry, gender, and labor market conditions; the regret asymmetry may be less pronounced in markets where negotiation is uncommon or where raises are structurally fixed. The directional finding -- inaction regret dominates -- is consistent across multiple independent surveys.

Raw data: /api/decisions.json