nothing when I retired

[RobbieB]

I left long before covid and it was a good thing too. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten that free lunch!

[prudent_one]

My dad had worked almost 40 years at the same company. When he retired, his manager asked my dad about having a big sendoff (at that company, it meant a sheet cake and some gifts, emailing all 500 people about it, then setting up shop in the cafeteria at 1 PM for people in the company to stop by and wish the retiree well).

My dad is a low-key guy and said he wanted no parts of that. So his manager said look, they are going to do something , how about a small thing with just his department of 20 people? My dad said do what you want.

On the fateful day, the group gathered in a conference room with cake at the appointed time, all except my dad who had gone home, for the last time, already. The next day his manager called him at home and asked why he ditched his own retirement sendoff.

My dad said, "You said you wanted to do something. I didn't." He just couldn't stand the thought of people fussing over him, so he snuck out of his own retirement celebration.

[DrRoy]

Been there. I RE'd from Megacorp in March, 2017. There was an event planned, but when it got pushed for a big customer problem they never rescheduled. On my last day I just walked out and that was it. Almost 37 years.

[marko]

As a beloved reverend who was being transferred to another parish once told me:
"When you leave, 10 percent of the people will be sad to see you go, 10 percent will be happy to see you go and 80 percent just won't give a damn either way"

In my case the company was sold. I was to receive a hefty an obscenely large payout while many people were going to be out of a job, so a "thanks for 34 years" party would've been--shall we say--'inappropriate'.

We were living in France at the time, so we went down to Cannes for a long weekend and DW threw a "party for two" at a nice restaurant. The 'long weekend' continues.......

I did receive (and still do to this day) dozens of emails and calls from former employees to thank me and/or reminisce about the old days.

[albireo13]

Well, I did get a free cup of Megacorp coffee on the last day!!
��

[bada bing]

I got bounced 3 times during my work career by plant closures and assets sales. I received severance 3 different times, totaling 42 months of pay for the 3 packages. That was enough acknowledgement and care from the different companies I worked for, for me. My last day at all three companies was a respectful perp walk to the fence after handing in pagers, phones and key cards and signing papers

Oddly enough, I just attended a retiree get-together yesterday for a group from the company I separated from 14 years ago. The company ceased local operations back then but they left a recreation site - a 5 acre company owned fishing campground on the local river - as a legacy for retirees. There is an "alumni" meeting every spring and fall at the rec site and retirees have exclusive access to it for the rest of the year. Kind of nice, I guess. Some of those folks are starting to look old, .

The last company I worked for sends pretty regular fluff junk mail. That's the extent of their caring. I see a handful of the coworkers I was friends with there every few months, about the same as my away-from-work interaction with them before retiring. Good guys, but I wouldn't be surprised if we drift apart over time.

I've only been retired 9 months and my identity with my former occupation is pretty much gone. I imagine by the 5 year mark it will take effort to remember much of it.

[Aerides]

My MC didn't do anything - I was part of a location reduction RIF anyway, and the package was amazing. But I did do a farewell tour of sorts with colleagues. Most of which I initiated:

On my last trips out to the other location, where I was training my new local replacement, I planned breakfast and lunch "meetings" with people I liked that I'd worked with closely enough to talk beyond shop stuff. And then I had happy hours with those I really really liked (just a couple). And then I did the same at my local site in the last couple of days.

I still keep in touch with that group 5 years later, if infrequently. But we were all already outside-work friendly, from various get togethers over the years. If that weren't the case, any send off would have felt disingenuous.

And if it were during covid? That would have all been just a couple of awkward zoom things. ew, pass.

OP if there are any in that former co-worker bunch you considered a real friend, why not reach out to meet up for a coffee now?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bada bing I've only been retired 9 months and my identity with my former occupation is pretty much gone. I imagine by the 5 year mark it will take effort to remember much of it.

Yes, by year 4 at one of these meet ups, I could barely remember the name of my last department, and it felt very foreign to me already. I asked my friends How did I do THAT?

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by albireo13 Well, I did get a free cup of Megacorp coffee on the last day!! ��

Glad you found the silver lining. The only contact I've had since leaving Feb 28 2020 was a letter this week telling me that the company was sold. Add something about forced payout of employee owner stock awards...

There are worse things. How about the guy who retired just in time to miss the Covid excitement, only to get diagnosis leading to over a year of treatment and testing? You see people every other week who have it worse, so there is always a reason to be thankful for something each day.

[Yipper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready The send off party is to make the remaining employees think the company cares about them. They don’t care about the employee who is leaving.

Exactly... don't you all go thinking about leaving now... we LOVE you!

[Yipper]

I'm about to leave Megacorp after 25 years after annual bonuses and other incentives pay out in a few months. I'm in my late 50's now and the 'merit' increases have been in the 1-2% range the last few years which is pretty common for people my age at this company.

They took advantage of my situation and I am well aware of it - it's simply a business transaction and one should keep emotions in check. Have had new bosses each year for the last few years and the current one asked me about my career aspirations... LOL!

They'll get 2 weeks notice.

[old medic]

I have already seen a few tears and I'm still 6 months out from my last day...
But My work environment is quite a bit different than most.

[MRG]

I left 8 years ago and didn't expect anything to be done as leaving was handled by the group you were in; I was new to that group and they didn't care if I was leaving. I sent a email to a group of people I'd worked with for the last 29 years. Probably 150 names of folks I'd started with, worked with, and were on the same teams with.b

A coworker recognized that they weren't doing anything and arranged a goodbye with the email ist I'd used. No MC sponsorship just a group of 60 people who showed. I'm glad for that, a couple of those people have passed away and that was the last time I saw them.

Would that happened today or last year? No. Too many RIFs and being acquired has killed off the great environment I was lucky to have. MC did send me a retirement present post retirement, I joined a class action suit against them and have received 10k to date, looking forward to more

[street]

I spent 35 years with one company also. They wanted to have retirement party and open to public for saying good bye etc.. Lol

I said, NO to that. I sure didn't want any of that parade and hoopla. I walked out the back door, after giving a year notice which they asked me to do if I could. They treated me well over that years time even thou they knew I was leaving.

[bloom2708]

Your departure may sound perfect to some. Slide in, slide out. No mess, no fuss.

[thod]

Our entire development group 10 people was let go at the same time, we had 10 months notice, during which we shipped a release and spent the rest training the team in India as best we could.

In the end, 5 of the team members found other positions and had transferred to their new group prior to the last day.

On the last day, the remaining 5 of us leaving (which included our manager), did the last bit of paperwork and then went and met for lunch at a local restaurant. We chatted for about 2 hours and then went our separate ways.

I really did not expect much so I was not disappointed.

Thus ended 26 years with that company.

I could have stayed, I had several teams willing to take me, but the severance was too good and I was ready.

[jim584672]

I got escorted out be security, so no parties when I left.

[teetee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prudent_one My dad had worked almost 40 years at the same company. When he retired, his manager asked my dad about having a big sendoff (at that company, it meant a sheet cake and some gifts, emailing all 500 people about it, then setting up shop in the cafeteria at 1 PM for people in the company to stop by and wish the retiree well). My dad is a low-key guy and said he wanted no parts of that. So his manager said look, they are going to do something , how about a small thing with just his department of 20 people? My dad said do what you want. On the fateful day, the group gathered in a conference room with cake at the appointed time, all except my dad who had gone home, for the last time, already. The next day his manager called him at home and asked why he ditched his own retirement sendoff. My dad said, "You said you wanted to do something. I didn't." He just couldn't stand the thought of people fussing over him, so he snuck out of his own retirement celebration.

That is what I will be doing in the future. The work itself is great. People are great. I don't want to be in the crowd getting celebrated, knowing that they either think about what I did right or what I did wrong in the past.

It is like a funeral for me except I am still alive and have a great future that they won't participate in. It is difficult for me to treat events like this positively.

[Cobra9777]

I retired 8 years ago after 25 years at MC. I was offered a retirement party and declined. Instead, we had a lunch with 7 or 8 people. They gave me the traditional plaque, thanking for years of service, etc. They also sent an email announcing my retirement. I got lots of nice emails in response to that from people all over the world that I had worked with.

I'm still friends with one former coworker. We get together fairly regularly. There's another 3 or 4 that I exchange email with a couple times a year. There's also a retiree/alumni group. I'm on their email list but I've never participated in any activities.

Mostly, I just wanted to quietly disappear, which I did. But it was also a very positive, low-key send-off, which was fine. But no doubt, I was quickly forgotten by all, except a small handful.

[Car-Guy]

I turned down the "traditional" retirement party at my Megacorp... Never liked them when I was working so I wasn't about to go out that way... The biggest problem with that was several folks called and/or emailed me and asked why they weren't invited to the party... Sometimes you can't win...

[Chuckanut]

My personal retirement celebration started in mid-August, when I walked past all the Back to School signs at the local stores and found I wanted to dance. It ended the day after the first day of school.

I do miss the kids. I remember them giving me a huge standing ovation at our last all school assembly of the year. I was blown away. I guess some of them figured out I wasn't the big nerdy jerk they thought I was.