nothing when I retired

[aja8888]

Unless management puts a 10' bronze statue of you in front of the corporate office, you are just "old cheese" at retirement.

 

[SonofCohoes]

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.

Haha. Wasn’t when I retired but the second from last job I had there was a breakfast party the Monday after I left. I guess it was to show the remaining employees how much they valued them.

To a lot of employers you’re just a $ sign. You’re either making money for them or for someone else. They don’t like when you make it for someone else.

 

[SonofCohoes]

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.

How many dents are there in the back of your armor from mega Corp days?

 

[Scrapr]

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

Did the Security officer at least shake your hand?

The sale of the company I started 30 years before was official Jan 01 this year. I was in charge of doing anything. And I got NOTHING!!!! Took a couple pictures & called it good

I stop by the storage yard where the drivers start their day this morning. Everyone seemed glad to see me. Couple new employees.

 

[stedmakr]

I retired from a federal job a couple of years ago and a luncheon for departing / retiring employees was part of our culture. A plaque, US flag, and a few gag gifts were part of the luncheon. It was nice. My rear view mirror look back on my work experiences remains positive.

As remote work and telework increases I fear the impact on the culture of an organization.

 

[EastWest Gal]

My dad was given a luncheon when he retired from Mega-oil-corp at age 62. It was very well attended,-50-100 people. For 15+ years he participated in a retirees group called SIR (Sons in retirement)-yes, I know, where did the women fit in(?). They had a monthly luncheon.

The medical group I joined after residency had two pediatricians retire, and they both had banquet style shindigs thrown for them.

Ten years into my job, I decided to leave. One of my patient's parents thought so highly of me that she rented a room at a local community college and held a going away party. She sent out invitations to all of my patients (I provided the contact info at her request). 100 families showed up and I have kept gifts and cards to this day, and we have become friends.

Here in PA, when I got fired, the nurses who engineered my firing held a going away party during a lunch hour. It was insane.

When I retired (with a couple of OMYs added afterward) in 2014, we had a potluck with a cake. When I finally quit in 2019, I was guest of honor at a local brew-pub, and it was fun. Two weeks later, I was at a different restaurant for a farewell dinner for our medical director who had taken another job.

They were merely excuses to go out to dinner for DH and I, and to try to have fun. I have been in touch with the medical director who left and one of my former partners.

In the meantime, I've reconnected with friends from high school including one teacher, and have been focused on new relationships in gaming, music, and theater. And enjoying the disconnected time too.

It's strange that I worked in medicine for 35 years and never developed a passion for the relationships I should have had during that time. But my heart wasn't in my work-it was in home and family and music and theater groups.Being in music in the community means that I perform with some of my son's mentors and teachers, as does DH. And DS sometimes performs with them as well.

 

[rk911]

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

sometimes it does. i wanted no sendoff but the staff had other ideas. it was quite the thing...very humbling.

 

[Rambler]

I was in the opposite position. I just wanted to fade away. Neither my boss, nor my employees would let me. My last week, I had to fly from Tokyo to Boston for a farewell with my global executive committee colleagues. When I got back, my employees threw me a huge party, the day before my flight back home to California. I wanted neither. A year later, my boss (global CEO) called me on my birthday, just to say hello. I mostly enjoyed my work and loved my people. I worked directly under several CEOs, and the last one was the best, because he really cared for his people the way I cared for mine.

 

[Bamaman]

If you'd been in my Mega corp and worked at headquarters, they would have showed up an hour after your resignation with a security guard and giving you 15 minutes to gather personal belongings. Your computer would have been cut off.

I was luckily working on the road.

A huge going away package was more worthwhile than a.gold Rolex so I.didn't feel slighted in the least.

I do miss my co-workers I often traveled with week after week. None seldom even.talk to each other.however.

 

[old medic]

Unless management puts a 10' bronze statue of you in front of the corporate office, you are just "old cheese" at retirement.

LMAO.... I have been asked to leave my uniform jacket I got when 1st started 31 years ago to be put in a shadow box and hung it up in the bay....

 

[razztazz]

I tried to duck my "ceremony" but there is some kind of actual law that requires retiring military people to submit to some kind of ceremony. The same people who had made earliest possible retirement look like a good deal wanted to do the typical Air Force "fake sincerity" BS to make themselves feel good. I mean... really! So I opted for the small private ceremony in the commander's office. Disinvited all supervisors, OIC's, superintendents, and other unit cogs. (Who were super-duper pizzed, btw). Took four (4) minutes. Then two friends took me to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. That was the real ceremony.

 

[Koolau]

I've mentioned before that when I told my boss I was leaving at the end of the week (but still employ*ed until end of the month and okay to call me) HIS boss and HER boss showed up at my w*rk station the next day to ask "what was wrong." I said "Nothing. I've been asked to take an assignment I don't want to do. I don't need to do it. I'm not going to do it. I'm not mad. I'm just gone." My boss's boss gave me a nice hug!

Boss asked if I wanted any kind of party. I told him that in a couple months, when the dust had settled, I'd invite the w*rk group out (on my dime) plus a few other folks I wanted to see. That's what I did. Wonderful. I keep in touch with exactly 2 folks from w*rk now 16 years later.

I feel sorry for OP and hope s/he can see it as one of the other ancillary down-sides of Covid19 and not a personal slight by his co-w*rkers. Advice, don't even THINK about Megagcorp's failure to respond to your leaving. Not worth the concern. If you find yourself missing folks - invite them out (your treat) when the masks are just a memory. YMMV

 

[Bamaman]

All I received at 36 years was.a.termination package that was worth.more than a gold Rolex.

That was.in 2008 after.they overreacted to economic conditions and sent all 30+ employees to the house.

No complaints from any of us.

 

[athena53]

I've mentioned before that when I told my boss I was leaving at the end of the week (but still employ*ed until end of the month and okay to call me) HIS boss and HER boss showed up at my w*rk station the next day to ask "what was wrong." I said "Nothing. I've been asked to take an assignment I don't want to do. I don't need to do it. I'm not going to do it. I'm not mad. I'm just gone."

The seeds of ER were sown early when I first heard a story like this- I was 27. Some actuaries I knew were discussing a former coworker who had been promoted. He said he didn't want to be promoted. They told him he had no choice. He retired. It was great motivation to keep saving so I'd have the same options.

 

[Nick12]

Knew some who retired at Walt Disney World. Depending on years of service some got free passes and their family to Disney for life.

 

[Car-Guy]

Knew some who retired at Walt Disney World. Depending on years of service some got free passes and their family to Disney for life.

That could be useful, if you have a bunch of grandchildren. I had forgotten, but one of the lifetime retirement benefits from my last Mega Corp is a 10% discount, for the family, on all company products/fuel purchases... That's becoming more valuable/noticeable lately.

 

[Gumby]

...

Boss asked if I wanted any kind of party. I told him that in a couple months, when the dust had settled, I'd invite the w*rk group out (on my dime) plus a few other folks I wanted to see. That's what I did. Wonderful. I keep in touch with exactly 2 folks from w*rk now 16 years later.

...

The tradition at my office had always been to have a big formal sendoff party at a banquet type place with speeches and presentations and such. I didn't want that at all. So what I did instead was plan a big cookout at my house for the day after my last day (I left on Friday, May 31, 2019). Everyone came down to my house on the shore and brought their kids and dogs. I smoked and grilled all the meat and got all the booze and beverages lined up. Everyone who came brought pot luck/covered dish. We had set up all the tables and chairs we had (or could borrow from the neighbors) out in the yard and ate, drank, laughed and had a great time in a much more relaxed and fun atmosphere.

I went back to the office about 6 months later and had lunch out with a few of my old colleagues, and then COVID hit. I might try to get together with some of them later this summer.

 

[pb4uski]

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

+1 I had only been with the firm for 13+ years and hadn't the requsite years of age and service to qualify for retirement benefits... so I essentially resigned when I retired.

They had a very nice spread of appetizers and an open bar at a pub near to the office, they flew me and DW down and put us up at a nice hotel. The boss even invited us out to dinner as the event was winding down about 10pm but we passed since we had got up early to fly in that day.

As I recall, I wasn't asked about it... they just did it and I was expected to show up. I could have resisted but I actually wanted to see many of the people that I had worked with over the years, trade stories and say goodbye.

Now that said the firm liked to party and even had budget monies specifically earmarked for socializing outside of work and I suspect that we were behind budget spending that money that year because work had been so busy.

 

[travelover]

I think I retired from the same Mega as Bamaman and, like him, was just glad to grab a generous buyout / pension / paid health care insurance. I couldn't care less about any ceremonies, though there was thrifty mass luncheon, as this was a big labor force reduction.

A few years earlier, I was amused by a co-worker that has hired in at age 22 and retired at 52 with a full pension and other retiree benefits. At his retirement party he was complaining bitterly that he had not been also given a new car on the way out.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I was in the opposite position. I just wanted to fade away. Neither my boss, nor my employees would let me. My last week, I had to fly from Tokyo to Boston for a farewell with my global executive committee colleagues. When I got back, my employees threw me a huge party, the day before my flight back home to California. I wanted neither. A year later, my boss (global CEO) called me on my birthday, just to say hello. I mostly enjoyed my work and loved my people. I worked directly under several CEOs, and the last one was the best, because he really cared for his people the way I cared for mine.

I hope you took those flights first class. And got to keep your miles.

 

[Lewis Clark]

I tried to duck my "ceremony" but there is some kind of actual law that requires retiring military people to submit to some kind of ceremony.

There is no law requiring military people to have a retirement ceremony, at least not a law I have ever heard of. It is a common custom but I know lots of folks who chose not to have a retirement ceremony. Myself included. I preferred to slip away quietly.

 

[braumeister]

There is no law requiring military people to have a retirement ceremony, at least not a law I have ever heard of. It is a common custom but I know lots of folks who chose not to have a retirement ceremony. Myself included. I preferred to slip away quietly.

It's entirely dependent on where you are and who you work for. I tried my best to avoid it, but being stationed at the Pentagon I was not given a choice. They just had to pin that last medal on me and assure the spectators that I wasn't actually such a sad sack. I had friends stationed at smaller bases who were allowed to skip the ceremony, no problem.

 

[Nick12]

That could be useful, if you have a bunch of grandchildren. I had forgotten, but one of the lifetime retirement benefits from my last Mega Corp is a 10% discount, for the family, on all company products/fuel purchases... That's becoming more valuable/noticeable lately.

I worked at a golf resort years ago and part of the perks was free rounds of golf / use of golf cart on the two courses and unlimited time at the driving range. When some retired they kept that company perk after retirement.

 

[RetMD21]

Warren Schmidt set my expectations

 

[razztazz]

There is no law requiring military people to have a retirement ceremony, at least not a law I have ever heard of. It is a common custom but I know lots of folks who chose not to have a retirement ceremony. Myself included. I preferred to slip away quietly.

Not referring to a "law." The establishment as someone below said imposes it. I know of no one ever who simply was allowed to stop showing up for work. A ceremony was required. You could choose the "grand ceremony" like a real ceremony, squadron/ building/ etc show up, or the informal one with a flag a la re-enlistment ceremony, the CC or whoever has the stick that day. I went for the non-ceremonious ceremony.