Will I care?

[Walt34]

I stayed in touch for several years and still do occasionally. For the most part they are good people and I keep membership in the alumni association (really a "survivor's club") and go to the annual dinner unless there is a schedule conflict.

[GT1 Doug]

After leaving megacorp 18 months ago, I still like to hear about what is going on a fairly regular basis (once or twice a month) from some of my friends that still work there. I care in part, due to the fact that I still own stock and they are paying my pension and health benefits. On the other hand, the constant reorganizations have made me all the more thankful that I left. I still occasionally get calls asking for information from some of my former coworkers which I am more than happy to give.

[aja8888]

I stopped caring when management said there is no chance a full size bronze statue of me will be placed on the lawn in front of the corporate office.

[davemartin88]

Once in a while I think about some of the individuals I worked with but as for the megacorp, I stopped thinking about them about the same time they gave me my layoff notice- it was expected and requested but once it was official, my interest was gone.

[traineeinvestor]

I FIRE'd at the end of September but I still care ... for the very pragmatic reason that I get a final pay out in late January which is calculated based on the firm's financial performance for the whole year.

Apart from that, several of the people working there are good friends and I am still doing some unpaid mentoring.

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo It will vary by individual of course, but expect a gradual decline over a period of weeks and months. The speed will vary based on how close you remain in contact with your former work associates and the rate of attrition of those individuals from the firm. In my case the drop off in interest accelerated quickly when a number of former associates left the company within a few months of my retirement. My interest evaporated after a year when the company merged and was sold.

They've already disposed of some of my best buddies, so yeah, nobody left to be interested in.

Reading though this thread I realized that about every place I worked, I kept n touch with one or two people. More of a social thing than about the old department, but on occasion, they did tend to b*tch to me since "Only someone who was there would understand", hehe.

But to address the OP's question, I'm done, and I haven't even left yet.

[Time4brake]

+1 its a gradual decline over several months as you wean off your "old self" corporate identity to your "new self" free man (or woman)

[robnplunder]

I have 50+ employees under me. 10 years ago, I cared about each and every one of my employees as if they are part of my family. But years of downsizing and cut throat competition to survive changed everything. Couple that with my boss's management by intimidation & fear eroded the personal relationship we all had with each other. So, if I quit today, that's it. Except for a few friends I have, my involvement with former company and employees/peers will cease. Cold turkey.

[Rambler]

I still think of my old megacorp every day, and it's been nearly a year since I FIREd. There are a lot of folks I miss, some good friends. Some days, I really miss "making a difference" or being of some value to an organization or to people as individuals. Sometimes I wish I could go back, but that's usually a very fleeting feeling, because amongst all the good memories are loads of stressful and difficult memories. When I dwell on those too long, the rise in my blood pressure is palpable. Who knows, maybe I will do some kind of work again in the future (the portfolio is holding up just fine...if I go back to work, it won't be because of financial need...rather, it would most like be to re-gain a sense of productivity and value. Until then, if it happens, I have plenty of fences to build, landscaping to get done, etc.

R

[Ronstar]

I was part owner of our 30 person firm for 20 years when I gave 6 months notice in October 2012, then agreed to stay on for 1 year at 2 days a week which will end April 1, 2014. I used to care a lot when my livelihood and that of the employees depended on company success. Now I still care - not as much as I used to, but more than I should. I estimate that I'll continue to care about 6 months after I'm gone, making a 2 year "care" ramp down.

[donheff]

I have been ERed for 9 years and still keep in touch with a couple of folks from work and am Facebook friends with a handful. I liked my work (except for the stress) and many/most of the people I worked with so I still find news about what is happening interesting. Lots of the reports I get remind me of the stress factors that contributed to my departure at 56. But that always makes me smile, just like seeing commuters rushing to the Metro makes me smile.

[jerome len]

I left mega corp in 1974 to start my own business.........still talk to folks, had dinner with my old boss last year......he is 88 years old. it was a great part of my life......going into business for myself has been even better. Do I still care? Sure.....it is a good company with good people.

[LoneAspen]

I have about one year left before I hopefully leave, and have already pretty much checked out of the place. I just don't care anymore about the work I do.

I've written before about the reward vs the journey...I don't care about the journey anymore, just the reward. Which is (finally) in sight, as they've already filed their S-1 to IPO in the next few months.

I'm not nearly excited about it as I should be. If I had worked at a startup 10 or 15 years ago that IPO'd, I might have been excited about it. But not now. Multiple BS buckets have overflowed in my career to the point I just don't get excited about anything at work. Just hand me my bag of money and let me be on my way.

[akck]

I'd care more if they were willing to fix the problem. Instead, they justify to themselves why staff is leaving as general turnover that's been a long time in coming. So most of the staff I'd care about are gone and I'll say good luck to any new staff coming in because they'll get nothing more from management in learning their new jobs. I guess I do care a little to see if they ever get a clue, but I'm not at all hopeful. It's easier to justify the changes if you keep your head in the sand.

[ls99]

I stopped cold turkey the moment my car's rear bumper cleared the gate on the way out.

[Dcharles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 I stopped cold turkey the moment my car's rear bumper cleared the gate on the way out.

I must agree.....I plan to leave the end of the year and do not expect to think about the place more than about 9 nano seconds.

[LinCella]

I'm retiring in 23 more work days and when I hear them talk about future plans - completely new way of doing something - I cringe and start to get anxious. I think they need some of my sage advice but they aren't asking for it!

I know I will only care to what they are doing to the institution that I love so much - a public library. But to be away from the politics, I won't care one bit!

[Dd852]

The most interesting thing for me has been discovering who at mega corp was a real friend and who had been a "friend" because of my position. There have been some real surprises on both sides of that.

As for the company itself, I'm still curious, but I just don't care.

[MRG]

I miss some folks and care about them, those are folks I still choose to eat lunch with. I still care about the business, as I haven't sold my last 1000 shares that they gave me

MRG

[martyp]

My employees were reassigned to other supervisors about a month after I announced my retirement. I really didn't care about the job for the next four months before I physically left. I've kept in touch with employees and colleagues by having lunch with them every month or two. I also keep in touch with them using Facebook. This has been going on for about 3 yrs now.