nothing when I retired

[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?

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[Ncc1701]

"I always feel happy, you know why? Because I don’t expect anything from anyone; expectations always hurt."

-Derived from a poem by William Arthur Ward

 

[athena53]

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

Yeah, that's what I had and I was OK with it. My situation was different- I'd been with the company only 18 months but it was the kind of place where we were referred to as "The (Company Name) Family" and they exhorted us to fill out surveys, etc., that would get us on lists of Best Places to Work. My direct reports were great people but the politics elsewhere got toxic and one week elapsed between my telling my manager I was retiring and my last day in the office. I told a couple of trusted direct reports only a few days before and spent my last week cleaning up and documenting all my work for an easy transition. I also quietly removed personal items, a few at a time, each day so I didn't have to do the Walk of Shame with the box of personal items on my last day.

No regrets at all. OP, try and be grateful for 35 years with the same company. That's rare these days. I'm sure you had to put up with less-than-ideal situations over those years but at least you were able to avoid "get me outta here" or "I just got downsized" job searches.

 

[jollystomper]

Reading these continues to make me feel fortunate/lucky/blessed for enjoying my job.

I had a choice of a retirement luncheon or dinner or $1000 towards selecting items from a catalog, and I chose the latter. I did not need the headache of selecting who I wanted at the luncheon, and the catalog had a lot of nice tech/home improvement stuff .

The day after my work was completed, I was to go into the office to what I thought just a final meeting with my manager to ensure there were no loose ends. Before I felt for the office I received a voicemail message that morning from a retired colleague apologizing that he could not make my sendoff today. Wait... what?

I arrived to the office around 10... it was unusually crowded. Since we all worked from home, You might be lucky to see 5 or 6 other people in our office/classroom/lab areas on an average day. There were at least 30 folks. Including a couple of management layers above my manager. And several other retired folks who I worked closely with were also there. Most of these folks lived at least 45 minutes away from the location. Okay...

I go into the meeting with my manager, and right off ask "Is something going on? Why are all these people here?" She apologized, saying I know you never asked for anything, but people wanted to give you a good send off. Our meeting ended around 11:30 (very little business and mostly just discussion on various topics), and when I walk off the office there are balloons up, a cake, pizzas and salads and cookies being brought in, etc.
Surprise!

It was a nice sendoff. My manager, the organization's manager, and executive management (all of whom flew in, none were local) all gave brief comments thanking me for my work, and I got a book full of letters and printed emails. What really touched me were all the young folks - only with Megacorp for a few years - who thanked me for helping them. Part of my "glide path" to ER was doing more mentoring and making sure others got credit, especially the newer folks, and I was glad they appreciated it.

Even with all the folks there was too much food. As the "honoree" they insisted I take home whatever I wanted, so a few pizzas and half the cake were also my gifts . My plan to clean up whatever I needed at the location that day did not happen, but my management said no problem, your badge will still be active for a week or so, stop in when you want. You can submit the travel expense to be reimbursed. There was some lab equipment I used that they said "if you want it, you can have it".

Megacorp was far from perfect, they reduced the retirement benefits during my 39 years, many layoffs, etc. But I cannot complain about the people I worked with, I cannot think of any former colleague I would not greet if I ran into them.

 

[brett]

25 years. I was thrilled with the golden handshake, the DB pension and benefits, the vested stock options. Allowed me to retire at 57/58.

This is what I was grateful for. It was a great company that treated me will, gave me opportunity and growth, with first rate benefits for my family.

I quietly left but inside I was the happiest person in the office. Lots of others were downsized over the years. Some prepared, some not so prepared.

Had a few drinks a few weeks later with colleagues. By that time I was past it and living in a different world.

Two important things I learned a long time ago. No one is indispensable. You cannot live in the past...keep moving forward with your life and don't look back.

 

[pacergal]

OP--Sorry you did not get the send off you wanted/expected. Covid may have had a lot to do with it, for sure.
If there are folks you wish to stay connected too, I am sure you can locate them via social media.
I was asked about a good bye celebration, I did not want one (introvert in an extroverted job!) It was forced on me by way of a "surprise" luncheon. I felt awkward the whole time. I liked and enjoyed my co workers, I just didn't like 100% focused attention and all those "what are your plans" questions! So, I had one, just didn't enjoy or ask for it.

 

[Dash man]

I was given a luncheon attended by about 14 people when I retired 8 years ago. The catch was I had to drive 3 hours there and 3 hours back. Hey, I still got paid for that time and mileage, so it was nice. I’ve remained in touch with three of them since then, and two of those left the company shortly after I did.

 

[Midpack]

I've had a mixed bag. Some like you you and some vary different. Now and then we get together for lunch and and catching up.

learn what is real and adapt.

Important life lesson -- Work will never love you back.

I didn't get a lot of follow up, but I was also surprised at how mixed the "after life" was. Some former co-workers who I thought would make an effort to stay in touch disappeared, but more surprisingly some former co-workers who I thought I'll never see or hear from them again reached our proactively for several years. Two sales execs who were acted very close, completely went off radar within 3 months - speaking to the "work won't love you back" observation above. Some relationships were actual work friendships, some were just networking convenience, and evidently I didn't always know one from another with some former co-workers...

Now that I am 10 years removed, there are only 2 former co-workers who keep in touch. Seems like five lifetimes ago now anyway. And it's probably for the best as many of the others couldn't come up with anything to talk about but what was happening at MegaCorp - uh, why do I care?

 

[Dalmore]

I retired June 2020 after 23 years, and like OP there was no send off. I sent a few emails letting key people know. Meh, I'm glad to be gone. Much like Gumby said, I've always told those that worked for me, "You have to take care of yourself, the Company won't do it, they could care less."

 

[Nick12]

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.

During their last year of work, some of my peers scheduled dental and medical procedures covered by the company health insurance plan.

 

[Car-Guy]

I've kept up with a few "business friends" since retiring ~10 years ago. As time goes by, we drift further apart. Now our contact is measured in years, not months. And almost all of that is via email, not phone.

As a side note, I learned 100 times more about life, people and politics (office politics that is) after working for 2 mega corps over ~40 years, than I ever did in my private life.