Farewell cards
What to write in a farewell card for a coworker
The card that goes round the office before someone's last day. Lines for a colleague you will miss, and for one you hardly knew.
It will not be the same without you here. Thank you for making the hard weeks considerably easier to get through.
HeartfeltYou are one of the few people here who made everyone around them better at their job. Wherever you land next has no idea how lucky it is.
HeartfeltThank you for every time you picked up something that was not yours to pick up. I noticed, even if I never said so.
HeartfeltGood luck with what comes next. Keep in touch properly, not in the way people say they will and then do not.
HeartfeltCongratulations on your escape. Please send coordinates and a full description of the coffee situation.
FunnyYou are leaving, and nobody has volunteered to take over your half of the shared inbox. This is your legacy.
FunnyOff you go then. I will be forwarding you questions for at least six months, purely out of habit.
FunnyAll the best. It was genuinely good working with you.
ShortGood luck with the next one. You will be missed here.
ShortThank you for everything, and best of luck.
ShortWishing you every success in your new role. It has been a pleasure working with you.
FormalThank you for your contribution over the past few years. With very best wishes for what comes next.
Formal
A leaving card is read differently from every other card at work. People keep them. Years later it is the only physical record that a particular set of people worked together, and the person reading it is usually somewhere new and slightly unmoored.
That is worth one extra minute. The lines that get kept are the ones naming something the person did that they would not think to claim themselves: the process they quietly fixed, the way they handled a bad week, the fact they were the only person who answered messages after six. Good luck for the future is what you write when you cannot think of anything, and it reads exactly like that.
Three things worth getting right
- Name the thing they were good at. Specific praise is the entire point of a leaving card.
- Do not mention where they are going unless it is public. Not every departure is a happy one.
- Include your full name and your team. In two years they will not place "Dave".
Common questions
What do you write in a leaving card for someone you did not know well?
Be honest and brief: "We did not overlap much, but the Tuesday standups were better when you were on them. All the best." It is short, it is true, and it is far better than borrowing warmth you do not have. Nobody expects twenty people to have a deep relationship with the leaver.
What do you write if they were made redundant or pushed out?
Focus entirely on them and say nothing about the company or the circumstances. Their skill, what they contributed, what you will miss. Avoid "good luck" framings that imply they need it, and avoid any joke about escaping — it reads very differently to someone who did not choose to leave.
Is it rude to sign a leaving card with just your name?
It is not rude, but it is a missed opportunity, and on a card with plenty of space it is conspicuous. Even six words beats a signature alone. If you truly have nothing, "All the best, it was good working with you" is sufficient and sincere.
One card, signed by everyone
You have the words. Card Event collects everyone else in one link, with photos, video and voice notes, and no app or account for the people signing.
Start a cardWriting to someone else?
All card wording guides — lines for a coworker and everyone else