Your Own Farewell Message, on the Way Out
The last email you send from that address. Thank people, say one true thing about the years, leave a way to be found. Three paragraphs is plenty and four is too many.
- The shape
- Thank, reflect, leave contact details. In that order, and short.
- Send it when?
- Late morning on your last day. Sent at five on a Friday it is read on Monday by nobody.
- Who to send it to
- The people you actually worked with. An all-staff farewell from a building of nine hundred reads as a notice, not a goodbye.
- The one thing to include
- A personal email address. Otherwise every relationship you built ends with your login.
The whole email
Copy, fill the brackets, send at eleven on your last morning.
Subject: Last day — thank you
After number years, today is my last day at organisation.
Thank you to everyone I have worked with here. One true sentence about the years.
Anything outstanding is with name. From Monday, where to send things.
I am at personal email and would be glad to stay in touch.
With thanks and best wishes,
Your name
Short, for a note on the desk or a group message
- 1
Today is my last day. Thank you for eleven very good years — I have been lucky in the people.
- 2
That is me done. Thank you all, genuinely. Keep in touch.
- 3
After thirty-one years I am off. Thank you for the work, the company and the tea.
Opening a farewell email
- 4
After nineteen years with the company, today is my last day.
- 5
This is the last email I will send from this address, which is a strange sentence to type.
- 6
Friday is my last day here, and I wanted to say goodbye properly rather than in a corridor.
The thank you
- 7
Thank you to everyone who trained me, covered for me, and put up with me on the difficult weeks.
- 8
I have worked with some remarkable people here and I have never taken that for granted.
- 9
My thanks to colleagues past and present for the support and good humour of the last two decades.
One true sentence about the years
Optional but it is what makes it a farewell rather than a form. One sentence, no speech.
- 10
I arrived intending to stay two years, which tells you most of what you need to know.
- 11
The projects blur together; the people do not.
- 12
I am leaving prouder of how we did things than of any single thing we did.
Handover, briefly
- 13
Anything outstanding is with Priya, who knows more about it than I do at this point.
- 14
My files are in the shared drive under my name and the passwords are with the team lead.
- 15
Please direct anything ongoing to the department inbox from Monday.
Leaving a way to be found
- 16
I am on [personal email] and I would be glad to hear from any of you.
- 17
This address dies tonight. The other one does not: [personal email].
- 18
Find me at [personal email] — I am not disappearing, I am just not answering emails before seven.
Signing off
- 19
It has been a pleasure. All the best to every one of you.
- 20
With thanks and every good wish.
- 21
Thank you, goodbye, and good luck with the new system.
Questions people actually ask
What do you write in a farewell message when you retire?
Thank people, say one true sentence about the years, say where things have been handed over, and leave a personal email address. Three short paragraphs.
When should you send a retirement farewell email?
Late morning on your last day. It gets read while people are still at their desks and gives them a few hours to reply before you go.
Should a retirement farewell email go to everyone?
Only to the people you actually worked with. An all-staff message in a large organisation reads as an announcement rather than a goodbye.
What should you not say in a retirement farewell email?
Grievances, a list of favourite colleagues, and a full career summary. The first is remembered forever, the second leaves someone out, and the third is not read.