Before you write: keep it short, keep it true
A leaving card message has one job, which is to make the person opening it feel that their time here was noticed. It doesn't need to be clever and it certainly doesn't need to be long. The lines people reread are the specific ones: the project you got through together, the habit that quietly made the team better, the afternoon they covered for you without being asked.
If you're stuck, write three lines and stop. One line about the person, one line about what you'll miss, one line wishing them well. That structure holds whether you've got half a page or the last free corner of the card.
A few things worth keeping in mind before the card goes round the office:
- Name something only you would have noticed, rather than repeating that the team will miss them.
- Match the tone to the departure. A promotion, a retirement and a redundancy are three very different cards.
- Write the way you speak. Read it back and cut anything you'd never say out loud.
- Leave office politics, gossip and the reasons for the leaving out of it, even as a joke.
- Sign it clearly, with your team or your desk if there are a few people with your first name.
- Assume it'll be read aloud at the leaving do, because it often is.
For a colleague you know well
This is the one people find hardest, because there's too much to say and a card that won't hold it. Pick one thing, say it plainly, and resist the urge to summarise the whole friendship. Warmth reads better than a speech.
- Working with you has been the best part of this job, and I'm not being soft when I say it. Go and be brilliant, and don't be a stranger.
- You made the hard weeks bearable and the good ones properly fun. Thank you for every coffee, every rant and every save.
- I'll miss your notes all over the whiteboard, your questionable playlists, and the way you always spotted when someone was struggling.
- Thank you for backing me when I was new and had no clue what I was doing. I've learnt more from sitting near you than from any training day.
- You're the colleague I'd want on any team, and now you're someone else's good luck. Enjoy every bit of it.
- Losing you from the desk next to mine is a blow, but I'm genuinely glad for you. Send updates, and tell us whether the coffee's any better.
For someone you barely know
If you never really worked together, don't invent a bond. A short, honest, friendly line is exactly right, and it's far kinder than a borrowed sentiment that sounds like everyone else's. One true detail, however small, is enough.
- We didn't work together often, but you were always helpful when I asked, and that counts for a lot. Best of luck in the new role.
- Our paths crossed less than I'd have liked. Thank you for making the times they did straightforward and pleasant. All the best.
- I mostly knew you from across the floor, where you always seemed to be the calm one. Good luck with whatever comes next.
- Wishing you a great start at the new place. Thanks for being a friendly face in the kitchen on a Monday morning.
- Best of luck. It's been good having you around, and the team clearly thinks the world of you.
For your manager
A card to the person who managed you is a balancing act. You want to sound personal without overstepping, and grateful without turning it into an exit interview. Thank them for something concrete they did for you, not for their leadership in the abstract.
- Thank you for trusting me with work I wasn't sure I could do. That's the part I'll remember. Good luck in the new role.
- You ran a team and you looked after people, and those aren't the same thing. Thank you for doing both.
- You gave straight answers, covered for us when it mattered, and never took credit that wasn't yours. Whoever gets you next is lucky.
- Thank you for the honest advice I didn't always want to hear. It made me better at this job. All the best.
- It's been a pleasure working for you. Wishing you every success, and I hope our paths cross again.
Short lines for a group card
When the card is going round the whole floor, space is the constraint. Short doesn't mean careless: a well-chosen line in a small gap beats a long one squeezed in sideways over the fold. Write it, sign it, pass it on.
- All the best in the new role. You'll be missed here.
- Good luck, thanks for everything, and do keep in touch.
- It's been a pleasure. Go well.
- Wishing you a brilliant next chapter.
- Thank you for your patience with my endless questions. Best of luck.
- Sorry to see you go, glad for you. All the best.
- The team won't be the same. Good luck out there.
- Onwards. You've earned it.
Funny leaving card messages that won't backfire
Humour works when it's kind and when it would still land if the card were read out at the send-off. The safe targets are the office, the coffee machine and yourself. The unsafe ones are the person's work, their appearance and their reasons for going. If in doubt, show it to someone else before you commit ink to the card.
- Devastated that you're leaving. Can I have your chair?
- Congratulations on the escape. Blink twice in the leaving photo if you need us to send help.
- We'll miss you nearly as much as we'll miss having someone to blame. Who's next?
- You're leaving the group chat, but the group chat isn't leaving you. All the best.
- Who's going to laugh at my jokes now? Seriously, all the best. Good luck.
- Please remember us when you're famous, and ideally hire us. Have a brilliant time.
Good luck wishes for the new role
When someone's moving to a job they're excited about, the card should look forward rather than back. Say what they're taking with them, and skip the line about how the place will fall apart without them. It's meant to be a good day for them.
- Good luck in the new role. They've no idea what's about to arrive, in the best possible way.
- Wishing you everything you're hoping for at the new place. You've earned the move.
- New job, same you, which is exactly why it'll go well. All the best.
- Go and do the work you've been itching to do. We'll be cheering from here.
- Congratulations on the new role. Take the good habits with you and leave the bad meetings behind.
Retirement card messages for a colleague
A retirement card covers a whole career rather than a job move, so the tone shifts. Acknowledge the years, name something the person changed or taught, and point at the time that's about to open up. Keep the jokes about age out of it unless you know for certain they'd enjoy them.
- Congratulations on a proper career. Enjoy every slow morning from here on.
- You've given this place years of good work and good sense. Now go and spend the time on yourself.
- Happy retirement. May your diary stay pleasantly empty and your garden finally get the attention it deserves.
- Thank you for showing so many of us how the job should be done. Enjoy every minute of what comes next.
- The place will feel different without you. Wishing you a long, happy and very well earned retirement.
When leaving wasn't their choice
Redundancy changes what a card is for. Congratulations would sting, jokes would land badly, and criticising the company puts your colleague in an awkward spot. What helps is plain recognition of their work and a concrete offer you can actually honour: a reference, an introduction, a phone call when they're ready.
Don't promise a job you can't provide. Do say, in writing, what they're good at, because that's the thing they'll need next and the thing they'll doubt first.
- This wasn't your choice and it was never about your work. Thank you for everything you brought here. I'm happy to be a reference whenever you need one.
- I'm sorry about how this has gone. Your work spoke for itself here, and it'll speak for you again. Keep my number.
- You've been a brilliant colleague and none of that changes today. Shout if a call or an introduction would help.
- Thinking of you. Thank you for the work and for the company. I hope the next thing turns out to be better than this one.
- I'll miss working with you. Whatever you need from me, an introduction or something written down, just ask.