Your message in thirty seconds
Choose who's leaving, why and the tone, and you'll get three messages to copy and adjust. Plenty more examples follow below.
Three suggestions
Working with you has been a real privilege. Thank you for the way you listen and your sense of humour. Your new team is very lucky. Let's stay in touch!
152 charactersThe office is going to feel very quiet without you. I'll miss the way you listen, and your sense of humour as well. You've earned this new role, and I hope it brings you everything you want. Lunch soon, I hope.
210 charactersColleagues like you are rare. Thank you for the way you listen, and for your sense of humour too. I hope you enjoy your new role as much as we enjoyed working with you. Send us your news!
187 characters
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 party, 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.
If you'd also like to describe their work, that's a different job from the card: it's what a recommendation on Take Your Skills is for. The assistant asks you about situations you went through together, which draws out exactly the kind of detail a card has no room for, and you read and edit the text before it goes on their profile.
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 a colleague who's become a friend
When the friendship has outgrown the office, the card can say so. Mention something that belongs to the two of you rather than the whole team, and make it plain that this isn't goodbye. Save the private jokes for a message of your own: the card will be passed round, and quite possibly read out.
This job brought me a lot of things, and you're the best of them. Nothing changes, so I'll see you on Friday as usual.
Colleagues for years, friends for good. Go and enjoy the new place, and keep a seat for me at the pub.
I'll miss you at work. I won't miss you anywhere else, because you're not getting rid of me that easily.
Thank you for being the person I could tell anything, on the good days and the rotten ones. I'm so pleased for you, even if the office is about to get a lot quieter.
You've been my sounding board, my partner in crime and my emergency biscuit supply. Now you're just my mate, which was always the best bit.
For someone in another team
You probably knew them from cross-team meetings, a shared project or the queue for the microwave. Thank them for what they made easier between your two teams, because that's exactly the part their own team doesn't always see.
Thank you for making it easy whenever our teams needed to get something done together. You'll be missed on our side of the floor too.
You were our best contact on the other side of the building. We'll have to learn to understand your team without you. Good luck!
I didn't see you every day, but I always knew who to ask. Thanks for always making the time. All the best.
Thank you for [shared project]. Without your help we'd still be on the first draft. Best of luck in the new job.
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.
If they genuinely made a difference to you, consider saying so at more length as well. A recommendation on Take Your Skills from someone they managed tells their next employer what they're like to work for, which is the one thing a manager can't say about themselves. You only need their email address: if they're not on Take Your Skills yet, they're invited to claim their profile once you've written it.
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.
A card going round the floor also misses anyone working from home or at another site. If that's half the team, an online group card solves it. The card's for good wishes on the day. If you'd also like to say what they brought to the team through their work, that's what a recommendation is for: a Leaving Pack on Take Your Skills collects one from everyone, and they keep them on their profile.
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. If you've also been asked to speak, our guide to the retirement speech for a colleague has a structure and lines to use.
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.
For someone leaving for something new
Starting a business, retraining, a year of travelling, a move to the other end of the country: some departures aren't really about changing jobs at all. Say something about the nerve it takes rather than the company they're leaving, and let them know you'll be following what happens next.
If they're changing career, the card can reassure as well as congratulate. Name one thing they're taking with them that'll count in the new line of work, which is what our guide to transferable skills is all about.
It takes real nerve to start again from scratch. I hope the new adventure is everything you want it to be, and I want to hear all about it.
Your business already has its first customer. Let me know the minute you launch.
A year of travelling? Now that's a leaving card I'm jealous of writing. Send photos, and come back with stories.
Retraining after all these years is a bold move, and you've got everything it takes. Your knack for keeping everyone organised will follow you anywhere.
New city, new life. I hope it feels like home very quickly, and the door's always open if you're passing through.
What to say at the leaving party
At the leaving party nobody's writing any more, they're talking. If you're giving the speech on behalf of the team, our farewell speech guide has a structure and examples. If you're just catching the person for a minute, drink in hand, a couple of sentences is plenty.
If the team has put together a gift, the party is the moment to hand it over. With a Leaving Pack on Take Your Skills, you can close the pack during the evening: the person receives every recommendation from the team by email straight away, and can read them properly once they're home.
I wanted to say thank you before this gets too lively. The years working with you really counted.
So this is it! I'm really pleased for you. Here's to whatever comes next.
Thanks for everything. Let's catch up soon, somewhere that isn't the office.
I never quite got round to saying it: I learnt a huge amount from working with you. Go well.
When you're the one leaving: your goodbye email
On your last day, it's your turn to write. The goodbye email usually goes to the team, or into the team chat, some time in the afternoon. Thank people without trying to name everyone, leave a way to reach you, and end on a positive note whatever the reason you're going.
It's also the best moment to ask for a recommendation, while your work is still fresh in everyone's mind. On Take Your Skills, the Ask for a recommendation button on your profile gives you a link to drop at the end of the email, and whatever your colleagues write stays on your profile afterwards.
Today's my last day. Thank you all for the help, the patience and the laughs along the way. You can reach me at [personal email]. See you around!
I'm leaving the team tonight, with a bit of a lump in my throat. I've learnt a great deal from all of you, and [project] will stay one of my best memories. Let's keep in touch.
Before I go, one last favour: if you enjoyed working with me, a written recommendation would really help with what comes next. Here's the link: [link]. Thank you, for this and for everything.
This isn't goodbye, just see you later. Thanks for having me, and all the best to the whole team.
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.
A recommendation on Take Your Skills is a practical way to do it. It goes on their profile, which they can send by link or download as a PDF with every application, so your words keep working for them throughout the job search rather than staying in a card at home.
Our guide on what to say to a colleague who's been made redundant goes further: what to avoid, and the practical ways to help with the job search.
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.