What to write in a leaving card for a colleague

A leaving card goes round the office in twenty minutes and half the messages say 'good luck!' with three exclamation marks. One specific line - a project, a habit, a running joke - is worth more than a paragraph of good wishes.

Below are messages sorted by how well you knew them and how formal you need to be. Copy one, then add a detail only you would know.

Keep it to two or three lines. Cards run out of space long before people run out of things to say.

Short leaving messages

• Good luck - they're lucky to have you. Shop this card
• Thanks for everything. Go and be brilliant.
• The office will be quieter without you. Much quieter.
• All the best in the new role.
• Sad to see you go, delighted for you.
• Onwards. Keep in touch.
• It won't be the same. Good luck. Shop this card
• Thanks for making the hard days easier.

Funny leaving card messages

• Who's going to sort the printer now?
• Please leave your desk chair. It's the good one. Shop this card
• You're not escaping the group chat.
• Congratulations on your successful escape.
• Taking the good biscuits knowledge with you, I see. Shop this card
• We'll say nice things about you until roughly Thursday.
• First round's on you when you're rich.
• Sorry in advance for the LinkedIn requests.

Heartfelt leaving messages

• You made this a place I looked forward to coming to. Thank you.
• I've learned more from you than from any course I've been sent on.
• Thanks for backing me when it counted.
• You set the tone here, and it was a good one.
• Working with you has genuinely been one of the best bits of this job.
• Thank you for every time you noticed I was struggling and said something.
• You leave the place better than you found it. Not many can say that.
• Whoever gets you next has no idea how lucky they are.

Formal and professional messages

• Wishing you every success in your new role.
• Thank you for your contribution to the team over the last few years.
• It's been a pleasure working alongside you.
• Congratulations on the new position - thoroughly deserved.
• With thanks for your work and best wishes for what comes next.
• Your professionalism has set a standard here. Best of luck.

When you barely knew them

• Our paths didn't cross much, but good luck with the next one. Shop this card
• Enjoyed working with you on the few things we shared. All the best.
• Wishing you all the best in the new role.
• Good luck - hope the new place is everything you want it to be. Shop this card
• Best wishes for the next chapter.

Retirement and long-service leaving messages

• Forty years. Enjoy every single lie-in.
• Thank you for a career's worth of steady hands.
• Retirement suits you already.
• You've earned every minute of this.
• Don't answer any emails. Not one.
• The place is built on the work you did here.

Messages for a manager or boss who's leaving

• Thank you for managing the way you did - it made a real difference.
• You gave people room to be good at their jobs. Rare.
• Thanks for every honest conversation.
• Best of luck. Whoever follows has a lot to live up to.

Shop leaving and retirement cards

How to write it so it lands

• Write in pen, not marker - the next twelve people need the space.
• Start at the edges of the card, not the middle.
• Add one specific detail. It's the only bit they'll remember.
• Pass the card round before the last week, not on the last morning.

Where to shop next

• Work party ideas hub
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• Retirement cards
• Christmas cards
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Frequently asked questions

What do you write in a leaving card for a colleague?

Two or three lines: a good wish, one specific memory or detail about working with them, and your name. 'Good luck in the new role - the standups won't be the same without your Monday coffee run' beats a paragraph of general praise.

What do you write in a leaving card for someone you don't know well?

Keep it short and warm: 'Our paths didn't cross much, but good luck with the next one.' Nobody expects a personal story from someone on a different floor.

Is it rude not to sign a leaving card?

No, but signing takes ten seconds and being missing from a card people keep is noticeable. If you genuinely have nothing personal to add, a name and 'all the best' is plenty.

What should you not write in a leaving card?

Anything about why they're leaving, anything about pay or management, inside jokes only three people get, and 'we'll miss you' if you won't. Keep it something they'd be happy to read again in ten years.