How long to stay at job after announcing retirement

[nativenewenglander]

My wife and I have a good friend who announced she wanted to retire yesterday. She's part of the telecommunications team at a software company that she's worked at for 10 years. They asked her to stay for 4-6 weeks, but they'd love it if she stayed 6 months. She's has many stress related disorders due to underlying anxiety and hopes retiring will address some of them. She's trying to wrestle with what is best for her, but doesn't want to leave her company in a bad light.

 

[davebarnes]

She's trying to wrestle with what is best for her, but doesn't want to leave her company in a bad light.

Walk out the door this morning.
She owes the company nothing.
She is retiring, not going job hunting.

 

[Nick12]

I have 3 weeks notice before I early retired to finish up projects and train my replacement. If I had health related issues that to me comes first. Company wants to think of themselves first at times.

 

[orangehairfella]

Two weeks, two months, two years. It doesn’t matter how much notice she gives, or they want, no one is going to start hiring her replacement until she’s gone. Management wants her to stay so they can kick the can down the road a bit.

The longer she waits the longer her coworkers will have to deal with a short timer that isn’t giving her all. She should rip the band aid off, let them get ion with their lives, and start living her own stress free life ASAP.

 

[gerntz]

I let boss know I was leaving 9 months in advance. I knew he wanted me to hire a replacement & train him/her. Went thru 5-7 candidates before hiring the one to start 5 months pre-retire. In retrospect, that was about 2 months longer than ideal, but I needed to stay due to health insurance switch details.

 

[Aerides]

Worrying about leaving the company in a bad light is only to be considered in very small firms where one is a major player (think like a doctor practice, or small legal firm).

It's admirable, but rarely a 2 way street. 4-6 weeks vs. 6 months just means they will wait 4 months before getting serious about replacing her. She'll also find she has a high chance of getting "dead man walking" fever in about 4 weeks, and may then further regret the long exit ramp.

4-6 weeks from now is mid-march - perfect retirement season! Spring! She'll have the best of the year in front of her to adjust and de-stress, vs. retiring into mid-summer. (And if she gives them 6 months now, they'll punt at the end and ask for another 3.)

If she's even thinking of the 6 month thing, I'd say set a firm date of 6 weeks, and she can always ask them if they still want to extend when she reaches 4 weeks if they are doing things right. By then, she'll have a good idea of how that would work out.

 

[DFDubb]

Walk out the door in 2 weeks after giving notice. The company dang sure wouldn't give her 6 months if their balance sheet was having health problems.

 

[Jerry1]

Long enough to professionally transfer her work. That’s a few days to a few weeks depending on the circumstances. If there is a prescribed timeframe to receive any kind of separation benefit, such as two weeks notice to get accrued vacation time paid, then that would play into the decision. Anything more is only for those who have other reasons for staying around.

 

[Bir48die]

Completely a personal choice. I gave more notice that 99% but that was to make sure I didn't regret anything. However I respect those that just walk out the door.

 

[jwkde]

When I retired I gave 2 weeks notice and agreed to stay 4 weeks (with an incentive). By the end of week 2 I was completely out of the loop - having handed off all of my projects and assignments. Not invited to meetings or included on emails. Spent most of the last 2 weeks playing solitaire and doing the lunch circuit.

Do you what you feel comfortable with - but do it because you want not because they want you to feel guility

 

[MRG]

Walk out the door in 2 weeks after giving notice. The company dang sure wouldn't give her 6 months if their balance sheet was having health problems.

+1

 

[iloveyoga]

I did three weeks, although I was getting my projects ready before that. Even so, they waited until the day before my last day to reassign my team and my projects.

 

[nativenewenglander]

My wife and I were discussing her situation last night as my wife had been counseling her on how to handle the next step after announcing her retirement. My feeling was as, others here, she's not going to be looking for another job, so two weeks and be gone. The friends she has there will understand why she left after two weeks, the others who don't who cares, get on with your retired life. Thanks for the answers as I will hand the thread off to my wife so she can help our friend. Her husband retired 8 months ago from his corporate job after three strokes and other health issues.

 

[Retiree_Having_Fun]

What I have seen at a couple of mega-corps is that the longer notice you give, the longer they take to assign/train somebody else. Even had a few friends that were begged to come back after lots of notice to train the new person. The best was the guy who figured out how much work the position would be and ended up quitting to go someplace else.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Long enough to professionally transfer her work. That’s a few days to a few weeks depending on the circumstances. If there is a prescribed timeframe to receive any kind of separation benefit, such as two weeks notice to get accrued vacation time paid, then that would play into the decision. Anything more is only for those who have other reasons for staying around.

^ This. I know it is gut wrenching for someone with a strong work ethic . The social connection is also a big thing.

In the big picture, we are just a cog in the machine. When leaving a longtime job , the longer you take to let go , the harder it is on yourself.

 

[Bamaman]

MegaCorp gave me 1 day's notice that they were offering liberal buyouts to all 55 years old and older--with a hold harmless agreement. I was out on the road.

Adios, old friends. And Thank You.

Had I been working in Home Office, two security guards and one HR person would have just shown up at my desk to escort me to the front door.

We owe them no additional time.

 

[Mdlerth]

Be the change you want to see in the world

I'll start off with a word of warning: Never announce you're leaving unless you are fully prepared to exit that day. There are three possible results from such an announcement:

1) Employer acknowledges your departure, enters your last day into the personnel systems and begins the process of moving on. Despite many of the earlier responses, this is probably the most common.

2) Employer interprets your resignation as treason and immediately banishes you from the kingdom. It's a good thing you thought ahead and packed up your personal stuff already.

3) Employer begs you to stick around a while longer to ease the transition, which prompts the OP's question "How long should she stay?" I think she already knows the answer:

Long enough to professionally transfer her work. That’s a few days to a few weeks depending on the circumstances. If there is a prescribed timeframe to receive any kind of separation benefit, such as two weeks notice to get accrued vacation time paid, then that would play into the decision.

^^^ There are two excellent points here. The first point is professionalism. If all the employer asks for is an extra few weeks, that's hardly unreasonable. Some day her thoughts may drift back to her career days; I suspect she'd rather remember that she maintained her professionalism to the end. What's a few weeks compared to the next thirty years of her life?

The second point is self-interest. Unless there is some absolutely compelling reason to escape immediately (her health, mistreatment, family emergency, one-in-a-lifetime alternative opportunity) it would be unwise to forgo compensation in a rush to get out the door.

MegaCorp gave me 1 day's notice that they were offering liberal buyouts to all 55 years old and older--with a hold harmless agreement. I was out on the road.

Adios, old friends. And Thank You.

Had I been working in Home Office, two security guards and one HR person would have just shown up at my desk to escort me to the front door.

We owe them no additional time.

At least you got the buyout! I don't dispute the accuracy of this anecdote, but I offer a different perspective. We don't owe our employers our whole lives, but we should treat them as well as we would want to be treated.

Certainly the Golden Rule ought to apply to everyone, although just because not everybody follows it is no reason that we should use that as an excuse to ignore it ourselves.

Were your Megacorp bosses jerks? Of course! They're managers! Duh!

However, ponder for a moment that it's okay to be better than they were; not for their benefit but for your own.

Okay, philosophy class dismissed.

 

[Nick12]

Wall Street executive friend of mine worked more than 10 years in his firm. He scheduled a meeting with his boss. He gave his 2 week notice. His boss accepted his resignation. 30 minutes later 2 security officers with empty boxes showed up in my friend's office. He had 15 minutes to empty his belongings into the boxes while security watched him. He then surrendered his company phone, work keys and laptop. He then was immediately escorted to his car.

 

[RunningBum]

I agree with the comments above. She owes more to herself than the company, to retire and reduce that stress and anxiety. If she was to be hit by a bus tonight they would fine a way to go on without her. They can get it done in 2 weeks. If 4-6 works out well for her, give them that. If lives were at stake or national security were an issue, maybe it would be different. Maybe. Because they should still be able to deal with it in a short period of time.

 

[bw5972]

My wife and I have a good friend who announced she wanted to retire yesterday. She's part of the telecommunications team at a software company that she's worked at for 10 years. They asked her to stay for 4-6 weeks, but they'd love it if she stayed 6 months. She's has many stress related disorders due to underlying anxiety and hopes retiring will address some of them. She's trying to wrestle with what is best for her, but doesn't want to leave her company in a bad light.

I worked for the same company 32 years. When I was ready to retire, I decided when and how. What the company wanted was not a factor at all, nada, zip.

 

[Ronstar]

Due to OP’s friend’s stress issues, I’d say give a minimum notice. Her health is far more important than any work relationship. And tell the boss that health issues are the reason for retiring ASAP. The company will get over it.

 

[HI Bill]

I tell all my employees to do what's best for them. The company, and projects, will survive, and move on, with or without them. I told my boss in December that I was planning to leave in the fall this year. He asked me to transfer all of my knowledge that I've gained over my 28-year career to the younger staff. I laughed. How does one transfer experience?

Anyway, if the stress is really that great, 2 weeks is fine, especially if she doesn't plan to return. Employers often don't give any more than that!

 

[Al18]

I would work an additional 4 weeks. If the company wants her to work longer than 4 weeks, she could offer to work part time if the compensation was right for her.

 

[nativenewenglander]

She decided to leave 3/1, but commented she can tell she's a lame duck now. As others said after the first two weeks she'll be doing the lunch circuit as no new work will be forthcoming.

 

[RunningBum]

Apparently they've found a way to live without her, so she should have no concerns about leaving in a bad light.