Farewell Messages for a Colleague: 60+ Things to Say

Two different problems get called “farewell message”: what you write when a colleague leaves, and what you send the whole team on your own last day. Here are 60+ original messages for both.

Send yours in a free congratulations ecard if the card has already gone round.

Farewell messages to a departing colleague

1. Sorry to see you go. It has genuinely been good working with you.
2. All the best. This place will be quieter and worse for it.
3. Good luck with the move. Thanks for everything you did here.
4. Wishing you well in the new role. You will be missed.
5. Sad to see you leave, delighted about the opportunity. Go well.
6. Thanks for all the help over the years. Best of luck.
7. It has been a pleasure working alongside you. All the best.
8. Good luck! You are leaving this team better than you found it.
9. Best wishes for the next step. Thanks for being easy to work with.
10. All the best. Do keep in touch — properly, not the card version.
11. Sorry you are off. Wishing you every success ahead.
12. Good luck out there. You will be very good at it.

Your own farewell message to the team

1. Today is my last day. Thank you all for making this a place I actually looked forward to coming to.
2. After four years, I am moving on. Thank you for the support, the patience, and the coffee runs.
3. This is my last day. I have learned an enormous amount here, most of it from the people rather than the job.
4. Signing off today. Thank you for making the hard stretches survivable and the good ones fun.
5. My last day is Friday. It has been a genuine privilege working with this team.
6. Leaving today with mixed feelings and a lot of gratitude. Thank you, all of you.
7. Today I hand it over. Thank you for trusting me with it in the first place.
8. Last day today. I am taking a lot from this place, and most of it is not on my CV.
9. Moving on after a long stretch here. Thank you for every bit of it.
10. This is goodbye for now. Please stay in touch — my details are below and I will actually reply.
11. Last day. Thank you for the work, the laughs, and for putting up with my meeting habits.
12. Finishing up today. Grateful to have worked with people this good.

For a farewell email or Slack message

1. As some of you know, today is my last day. Thank you all — it has been a genuinely good few years.
2. Wanted to say goodbye properly rather than let it go round the grapevine. Today is my last day.
3. Short and sincere: today is my last day, thank you for everything, and please keep in touch.
4. Before the automatic reply kicks in — thank you. It has been a pleasure.
5. Handover notes are in the shared drive. Thank you all for a great run.
6. Leaving today. If you need anything after this week, my personal address is below.
7. Signing off. Best of luck with everything on the roadmap — I will be watching from the sidelines.
8. Last day today. Do not let the project ship without a proper launch party.

Heartfelt farewells

1. You made this job something I enjoyed rather than endured. That is a rare thing to be able to say.
2. Thank you for backing me publicly when it would have been easier not to.
3. I have worked in a lot of teams. This one, largely because of you, was the best.
4. You taught me most of what I actually use. Thank you for that.
5. Colleagues come and go. A few become friends, and you are one of them.
6. Thank you for the honesty, the good advice, and never making me feel stupid for asking.
7. Genuinely sad about this one. Wishing you everything good ahead.
8. Thanks for setting a standard the rest of us tried to reach.
9. You will be missed for the work and missed more for the person.
10. Thank you for making a difficult year manageable. I will not forget it.

Funny farewells

1. Leaving already? I had you down for another eleven years minimum.
2. Good luck! I will forward your emails for exactly one week.
3. Off to greener grass, then. Send photographs of the grass.
4. Your desk has been reassigned. It happened within minutes. I am sorry.
5. Good luck! Try not to fix everything in the first fortnight — it makes the rest of us look bad.
6. Congratulations on the parole hearing going your way.
7. We will keep the group chat going. You will regret staying in it.
8. Best of luck. If it goes badly, your old login probably still works.

Keeping in touch

1. My number is the same. Use it.
2. Adding you on LinkedIn is the bare minimum. Lunch, next month.
3. Group chat stays. Attendance is mandatory.
4. Drinks in a few weeks once you have settled in — I will organise it.
5. Do not let this be one of those goodbyes where we never speak again.
6. Same time next month, different building. Deal?

Short farewell messages

1. All the best!
2. Good luck — keep in touch.
3. It has been a pleasure.
4. Thanks for everything.
5. You will be missed.
6. Go well!
7. Best of luck out there.
8. Sorry to see you go.

How to write it

1. For a departing colleague, name one specific thing. It is what separates your message from thirty identical ones.
2. For your own farewell, thank people rather than reviewing the job. Nobody wants a retrospective on the company.
3. Keep the farewell email short. Four sentences and a contact detail is the whole format.
4. Do not air grievances on the way out. It travels further than you think and helps nobody.

Send it — and pair it with a gift

A free congratulations ecard works after the last day. See also what to write in a leaving card and new job congratulations:

FAQ

What do you write in a farewell message to a colleague?

One specific thing you valued about working with them and a genuine good wish. Specificity is what makes it memorable among many similar messages.

What should I send the team on my last day?

Four sentences: that today is your last day, thanks for something specific, a good wish for the team, and how to reach you afterwards.

Should a farewell email be funny?

A light touch is fine, but keep it warm rather than sarcastic — it is the last thing many colleagues will read from you.

What should you never put in a farewell message?

Complaints, pointed remarks about management, salary comparisons, or anything that reads as a parting shot.

What is a good short farewell?

“All the best. It has genuinely been good working with you.”

Is a card or an email better?

A card for the individual, an email or Slack post for the team. Do both if you are the one leaving.