A co-worker made an almost covert exit on 6/21

[Lakewood90712]

12 year employee , 65? yr old. 3 weeks ago he asked me about $ amount if he retired this year and medical subsidy info. (Turns out he had already did the calcs. , and just wanted to double check the numbers). He only told the pension administrator, the personel dept. and his direct supervisor (the supervisor is at home on long term medical) . If the employee so specifies, NOBODY in managent is told by personel ,untill the effective date. This is to prevent employee/management problems, if the employee decides to cancel.

Thursday he was cleaning up and organizing his desk and files. I've known him for 8 years at multi-locations, desk always a shambles.

Friday 7:30 am, he notified middle management that this is his last work day and would be on vacation till the end of payperiod. Started the round of good byes after lunch.

The little rat skipped out , leaving the rest of us to do his work .

 

[omni550]

Do you know his moniker here on the forum?

omni

 

[Sittingduck]

Friday 7:30 am, he notified middle management that this is his last work day and would be on vacation till the end of payperiod. Started the round of good byes after lunch.

That's freakin AWESOME! Most people are blabbermouths. I bet this guy is good at cards...

 

[Walt34]

Decades ago we had a guy who filed his retirement paperwork with Personnel but never said a word to anyone else. When he didn't show up for work the Sgt. called him at home and asked when he was coming in.

"I'm not. I'm retired."

As a direct result of that Personnel now has to notify the agency head when someone puts in the papers.

 

[pb4uski]

Sounds like poor form to me. I guess I had a better relationship with my management and colleagues than to just up and leave.

At least you didn't have to go to any retirement party for him.

 

[KingB]

At least you didn't have to go to any retirement party for him.

+1
...and put a couple of bucks in the envelope and sign the card.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Sounds like poor form to me. I guess I had a better relationship with my management and colleagues than to just up and leave.

At least you didn't have to go to any retirement party for him.

He did not want a party , or even lunch.

I hired in at about the same time as he did. Worked many of the same assignments. 10-12 years ago, it seems we were attending a retirement party every week or so. The department is about 800, and was like a family back then. Most retireing or resigning from here don't want a send off these days....Labor relations ,not just with this department , but the entire city government ,have been quite bitter the last few years . A lot of skullduggery goes on inside city government that would not be tolorated at private employers , large or small. This guy was quiet and hard working. Never complained much about anything.

Our current situation is like being in a cesspool up to your mustache. Just just don't open your mouth , or you will end up with a mouth full of S***.

 

[donheff]

I never find these stories amusing or inspiring. Leaving like that tells me the guy probably hated his job and his management or was some sort of anti social curmudgeon. Either way, a pretty lousy way to spend a big portion of your life. ER is great, but you have to get there. May as well find employment you actively like, or at least something neutral. If it was just that he worried management would not respond well to his early departure and was afraid to give notice, that is almost as bad since it also speaks volumes about the poor caliber of his workplace.

 

[eytonxav]

Leaving like that tells me the guy probably hated his job and his management or was some sort of anti social curmudgeon. Either way, a pretty lousy way to spend a big portion of your life.

+1 I really wonder how people like that can stand to look at themselves in the mirror.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I never find these stories amusing or inspiring. Leaving like that tells me the guy probably hated his job and his management or was some sort of anti social curmudgeon. Either way, a pretty lousy way to spend a big portion of your life. ER is great, but you have to get there. May as well find employment you actively like, or at least something neutral. If it was just that he worried management would not respond well to his early departure and was afraid to give notice, that is almost as bad since it also speaks volumes about the poor caliber of his workplace.

True, Don, but surely you know that a lot of people are in such a position. Yes, it speaks volumes about the poor caliber of his workplace. There are a lot of places like that.

You and I have more options that 99+% of the workforce. Remember that most people are trapped.

 

[F4mandolin]

A lot of people (like myself) didn't want a party or any extra attention. Everybody knew I was retiring at the end of the school year.....I don't really understand the need for a party though....just more money wasted. If that is something you like....fair enough. Large groups of people have always been a bit of a pain for me so I tend to stay away from city centers etc where the traffic and numbers of people are greater. Don't consider myself a grump..
To quit without saying anything is a bit strange to me though.

 

[ERD50]

I never find these stories amusing or inspiring. Leaving like that tells me the guy probably hated his job and his management or was some sort of anti social curmudgeon. Either way, a pretty lousy way to spend a big portion of your life. ...

There could be another explanation. Some people simply don't like the attention. Very early in my career, I took a job in a different department, and my co-worker was older, a very quiet and reserved guy, but he knew his stuff inside-out. He quietly went about his business, very effectively and efficiently, and he was always pleasant to me and really helped me to learn the ropes. A great, but very reserved guy. Never grumpy, he would kid around from time to time, but pretty much just plugged along. He had coffee/lunch with the same group of guys his age each day. He came/went by the clock whenever possible, had no interest in promotion or more responsibility - just let him do his job and leave him alone.

One day, he was gone. I asked if he was on vacation, or had to take a sick day (he normally would have told me), and was told he retired. No good-bye, nothing. I think that's the way he wanted it - who am I to judge?

And when I left, there were so many forced lay-offs, so many people hurting, so much bad morale, that 'celebrating' leaving was rather awkward. Some of us just preferred it to be very low key. Sad, but those were the circumstances.

-ERD50

 

[REWahoo]

A lot of people (like myself) didn't want a party or any extra attention.

Retirement parties/celebrations aren't just about you. Those attending may want a way to say goodbye or simply need affirmation that there really is a way out other than on an ambulance gurney...

 

[Bestwifeever]

Maybe the OP's friend realized from watching others get laid off that he would not get much notice if the shoe were on the company's foot (DH volunteered for a retirement layoff at a to-be-determined-by-the-company date. The day it happened, without notice, he and the others--most of them with multiple decades of service-- were out in an hour.) It sounds like OP's friend left his desk and work files in good order and his departure probably caused not much of a blip in getting the work done.

 

[F4mandolin]

Retirement parties/celebrations aren't just about you. Those attending may want a way to say goodbye or simply need affirmation that there really is a way out other than on an ambulance gurney...

Yeah....I know, and was thinking of that when I wrote the other post. I retired with 2 other guys....they both had a party on base and really wanted me to kick in.....guess maybe I really am a grump. I still come back to the fact that I said goodbye to the people I worked with without it costing me anything.....cheap cheap cheap. Still just don't feel comfortable throwing a party to celebrate "me". One of the guys I retired with had diabetes and has since had both legs taken off at the knees. He lived in a bit of a fantasy though.....until they took the first leg he was still hoping to go back to work.

 

[donheff]

I don't have any problem with someone quietly leaving without the hoopla of a party. Once of my favorite bosses did that - leaving a nice opening for me. He simply was not the type to want a retirement party. What I was reacting to was the joy at seeing someone intentionally leaving his bosses and coworkers in the dark and disappearing. There could be all sorts of reasons for that but I suspect it usually means someone was very unhappy at work. S**t happens, and sometimes workplaces turn sour after many good years. But putting up with a toxic workplace for a years, or even decades is sad. I was reading that sort of work life into the story. May have been more my reaction to things I saw in my time than to the facts of the OP's post.

 

[ERD50]

...What I was reacting to was the joy at seeing someone intentionally leaving his bosses and coworkers in the dark and disappearing. ...

OK, I see that. I guess it depends a lot on the work. Some jobs, if you are up to date, and your files are closed, it's not a big deal - co-workers will need to pick up the new work until a replacement is found, but the same would be true if he was let go.

But if you really need to have a 'hand off' of your current in-process work - well, I'd hope that HR would have found a way to ensure that happens.

-ERD50

 

[ER Eddie]

Retirement parties/celebrations aren't just about you. Those attending may want a way to say goodbye or simply need affirmation that there really is a way out other than on an ambulance gurney...

That's a good point. I am party-averse, like F4mandolin, especially when (as F4 put it) it's "a party to celebrate 'me'." I don't like being the focus of attention like that -- makes me all embarrassed and aw shucks, toe in the sand. I am going to be stuck with a party of some type, though -- I'm working with people who reflexively do that for everyone entering or exiting. So I need to remember that perspective. Other people may want to say goodbye (or good riddance), just for closure.

 

[jollystomper]

There could be another explanation. Some people simply don't like the attention.

+1

I enjoy my job and get along great with my co-workers, but I just hate being the center of attention for any type of party. While I might not do it the way described in the OP's post, I would ensure I wasn't leaving my teammates or management in the lurch in terms of work assignments and duties, but wouldn't want any undue fuss. Going as quietly as possible is sometimes the only way to allow this to happen.

 

[scrabbler1]

+1

I enjoy my job and get along great with my co-workers, but I just hate being the center of attention for any type of party. While I might not do it the way described in the OP's post, I would ensure I wasn't leaving my teammates or management in the lurch in terms of work assignments and duties, but wouldn't want any undue fuss. Going as quietly as possible is sometimes the only way to allow this to happen.

I did not want any big party when in 2008 I left the company I had been at for 23 years. I had been working only 2 days a week for the last 17 months and had not worked full-time in 7 years, so my absence from the office was a commonplace. I had attended only 1 party/luncheon for a departing coworker in nearly the last 15 years, and that was a retirement party for a long-time employee who had worked for us for 37 years (he was only 59 but sadly died only 6 years later).

There was a short gathering at my desk near the end of my last day (but not too long because I was still racing to get my one project done by the end of that day, which I did, barely). They pooled the money they were going to spend on my luncheon and gave it to me in cash (about $160) which was nice. I made a short speech and everyone went back to work.

 

[LoneAspen]

I guess I'm going to be one of the few (if only) people who thinks...props to the guy on his exit. When you put in as many years as he did, dealing with God knows how much BS, you've earned the right to leave in any fashion you want.

Perhaps I feel that way because I'm more mercenary about jobs than others. I firmly believe the concept of loyalty in American corporations died long ago. It's entirely possible to get tapped on the shoulder, be laid off/fired, and walked out that day. So I have no problems selling my loyalty to my employer just two weeks at a time (with every paycheck).

While I'd probably give my employer two weeks notice, I seriously doubt I'd ever give more, and I could envision at least a few circumstances that would make me slip out just like this guy did, under the radar with no notice at all (especially if I felt I, or my work, wasn't appreciated).

Whatever the circumstances...he's free. And props to him on that.

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

I understand that some people may be in a position where there would be minimal impact from sudden, unannounced retirement. That just was not so with my situation as a corporate executive working with numerous locations. We were lucky to find a person who looked like a suitable replacement several years before I even thought about retiring. They came along really well and there was a seamless transition of responsibility during the months prior to my leaving.

 

[Redbugdave]

I could see how a quiet unassuming worker could be here one day and gone the next. If you keep your work life and real life separate it's no big deal. The scary chapter closes...and the real one stays open...

 

[LoneAspen]

I understand that some people may be in a position where there would be minimal impact from sudden, unannounced retirement. That just was not so with my situation as a corporate executive working with numerous locations. We were lucky to find a person who looked like a suitable replacement several years before I even thought about retiring. They came along really well and there was a seamless transition of responsibility during the months prior to my leaving.

I agree that people in executive positions, or other positions that could materially affect a company if they were suddenly vacated, do need to do more advance succession planning.

However, being nothing more than a peon my entire corporate existence (I'm not complaining - I never could stomach management and all the BS that went with it, so never pursued it), my leaving wouldn't materially affect my employer at all. Hence, I've never worried about succession planning, and never have given more than two weeks notice, which I think is entirely sufficient.

 

[LoneAspen]

I could see how a quiet unassuming worker could be here one day and gone the next. If you keep your work life and real life separate it's no big deal. The scary chapter closes...and the real one stays open...

Exactly! As time draws closer for me to exit the IT world, I could see myself doing that, too. Because I don't keep any personal belongings in my cube that would be missed if I were to clean it out in advance, nobody would see it coming. And I definitely keep work and personal life separate. Once I decide to leave the IT field and the 9-to-5 workplace, I never intend to re-enter it. So any ramifications of me being there one day and gone the next are moot.