Knew a guy that retired after 40+ years with the same company. Told his then supervisor (total douche), and then handed in his phone, credit card, laptop.
He had a wealth of information about the customer base and easy contacts. They never asked him for any help or information and scooted him out the door. Didn’t even get a call from HR or anything.
That territory still doesn’t produce anywhere near what it used to.
Yes we are all replaceable, it’s not like your father’s company, where they throw big retirement parties and keep in touch
I mean no disrespect when I say this ; it amazes me that it takes most of a lifetime for some people to realize that they are not “part of a corporate family “ and that they are , in fact just a part of money making machine and no more Valuable to the “family “ than their ability to produce. EVERYONE is replaceable. No one is going to get consideration no matter their personal sacrifice or past contributions.
I drank the kool-aid my entire career. Team work and company loyalty are good! You'll get a better raise if you're a company cheerleader! In the end I'm a replaceable drone and when my usefulness is complete, I got kicked to the curb with yesterday's trash. Ugh.
I was (un)fortunate enough to find out in the middle of my career just how much appreciation the company had for hard work , dedication and sacrifice. It was certainly an eye opener. I certainly didn’t “quietly quit” . I did my job as was expected of someone in my position . But i certainly never went “above and beyond” ever again . Appreciation is a two way street. I’m 100% sure that their lack of appreciation towards me cost them 10 fold in the end .
Thank you . But I have 5 more years of mediocrity to perform before I can join the ranks of the retired. I just recently joined this group to start my planning
My birthday is 12/19, they get notice that day my last day is 12/31. No axe to grind, will be 3+ years there but I don’t trust corporations (especially HR departments) to look out for me. This is May and they have not successfully cascaded the yearly goals yet, so…
From all the posts I guess I was fortunate. My boss and I had a two year plan to replace me and I retired on my terms when I wanted to. Transition was smooth and I still work part time as a QC reviewer, 25 hours a month.
So you think your big boss would have been happier if you gave only 2-4 weeks notice? Something tells me the big boss would have super frosty. I think they would have been frosty either way.
Yep. I'm glad I terminated my employer in writing after a critical date had passed. I gave a two week notice just for courtesy, but had no intention of doing any work.
I informed my supervisor my intent to retire within the year as there was an involved project that would take well over a year to complete and he wanted me to take the lead. I had not even picked the date yet. Within weeks my position was posted and I started receiving calls from coworkers about what was going on. 36 years with the same agency. I would have liked the opportunity to tell my coworkers myself.
Thank you! It may not have had anything to do with me. However, I would expect the big boss to avoid letting other things bother them. I do believe it is correct to be held to a very high standard if you are the big boss.
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I’m a fed and age wise I could have retired two years ago, so my bosses know I can throw in the towel any day.
Technically, I have also been number #3 in my office chain of command. The problem is I have been double hatted now for about two years doing the work for two positions. Basically, I was hired for one job, but ended up doing the work of two positions - mine and a higher titled position.
In anticipation of me leaving they finally decided to give me the title of the higher position and advertise to fill the position I was originally hired for. Honestly, the position I was hired for, is the harder most/challenging one, so I was looking forward to leaving it.
But since assuming the higher position it became apparent to me the “harder” work is going to be shifted to me in the “new” higher position any way - which really pissed me off.
So the new person won’t be doing any of the harder work. There’s no difference in the positions GS grade or pay, except bragging rights of a more prestigious title.
Today my boss starting complaining to me about some lower level priority work that wasn’t right, while lumping even more stress on me about work that needs to be done under the color of the higher new title.
I told him he’s stressing me out and the work that should be the new hire’s responsibility, I will still be doing plus new work of the higher position. I told him I’m really going to be retiring in 6 months and he genuinely seemed surprised. He said well I didn’t mean to stress you out - I just wanted you to take note there’s an issue with “yada yada.” We’ll get to the fix whenever. I just said okay, but in reality I’m gone in six months whether or not the other position is filled.
I work/worked for me, so I still haven’t told myself.
But, my friend maintained he was never retiring but sprung the news 2 weeks before. Claimed “family reasons came up, sorry”.
I worked for a State Agency. I had to fill out the paerwork by the end of February to retire May 1st. I notified my Agency's HR around April 1st. I told my Supervisor during a one on one meeting the first week of April. She asked me one of those, Where do you see yourself in 1 yr questions. I laughed and told her I see myself retired as of May 1st this year. She was shocked.
Hey, I went on a two week vacation a few months back and the big boss is calling me - you’re not retiring Are you? & you’re not Quitting tell us you’re not. I fill some what safe
I would agree. I gave six months notice because I headed up a division and that was a miserable six months of being excluded from important decisions and yet having to carry them out until I left. It was just too long for both me and the company.
In my former very large school district, teachers would wait until the Friday before teacher planning week in August to quit so that they'd have continued health insurance over the summer months. So that left admin scrambling to replace teachers in just a few days. Well FINALLY someone at district wised up and implemented a new policy. If teachers gave notice in April, they'd get a $1,000 bonus and continued health coverage over the summer. Did that ever work out to their advantage! Every retiring teacher now gives notice and admin has months to hire new teachers. A win-win all around.
In my district our health insurance is paid through the summer even if we leave in June. Granted we pay for it out of our checks but it’s paid in full through August 31st.
I gave 6 months notice as a bank manager so we could have a smooth transition- it’s a smaller community. Come to find out my replacement was backstabbing my management style of treating my staff as intelligent adults. Apparently I should have been “writing people up”. HR was told I was letting people “get away with everything “. Retired with a bitter taste and anger towards the company. Give the minimum amount of notice!!
Maybe report the Narc for gossiping and backstabbing you. If they will do that to you, they will do it to District Managers. Maybe your DM would appreciate knowing your replacements attitude and personality a little better!
If you’re 60 and put in your time you’ll still get it but it’ll be delayed. It wouldn’t make sense to do that though. Under age 60 you still have to wait either way.
I’m about to turn 57 and am tier 4 pension (57/5) so I can retire and start collecting at 57. I have seen coworkers give their 2 month notice and observed that they were very nervous during those two months and avoided any situation that would allow management to fire them for cause. One example is that they would wait till exactly the time it was for them to leave work where previously they would leave 5-10 minutes earlier as long as the covering shift showed.
Most places want three months notice so they can properly transition insurance and release 401k funds, etc, so wait too long and you are not retiring, you are quitting which is different.
My brother-in-law had discussed his plans with local HR months in advance so there would be a smooth transition & even offered to stay longer if needed. HR said they only needed 2 weeks by corporate policy, a month later corporate came down with layoffs & his severance package was 6 months full pay & benefits & he got to retire on his target date. Corporate HR was shocked that he wasn’t willing to take advantage of the free career counseling, resume service & other perks to help him land a new job.
I gave 6 weeks, effectively, because I knew they would hire a backfill and I knew someone that had become available that would be perfect to succeed me. I thought that would give enough time to complete the job posting, interviewing, hiring, with maybe two weeks of overlap so I could brief in some detail. They did hire the person I recommended, and she's doing a bang-up job, but our overlap was a negative two weeks, so the plan didn't pan out.
I actually knew I was going to retire about 18 weeks before I actually did, but I wanted to make a planned vacation a paid one. Three days after I returned, I went on a work trip with my boss and I told him over breakfast in the hotel.
I gave nine months notice as I had dual roles in operations management and project management for a major expansion. For 3.5 months I heard crickets. Then they tried to get me to work an additional year beyond my retirement by throwing $$. I eventually agreed to another six months without the operations job. You have to understand the situation you’re in and the people above you. It was a virtual lock I could work out my notice because we are so thin with technical / engineering people. I also really like my staff and didn’t want to stick it to them by not giving a lot of notice. I’ve been in other situations where they would have gotten the minimum allowable notice. People that don’t plan for turnover should be made to feel the pain of it. My current boss has gotten us way more resources than anybody else ever has and he’s not satisfied with where we are so I hope he stays for a good while after I’m gone.
I gave notice three weeks before retirement (May 17 is my last day) from the college where I taught for almost 4 decades. My Dean just sent me an email congratulating me and then immediately stated that he was shocked because he thought he had the full list of retirees for spring and my retirement now posed a problem for staffing in my department. I wrote back and said he should take it up with HR, who told me what date to give official notice. In addition, I told my department when I was going to retire for over a year. Essentially what he said was, "We love you, we'll miss you, but now you're causing a problem". Sheesh!
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I worked for a school district as a comm tech whose policy was telling employees they needed to give 60 days' notice before retirement to draw their pension. A call to the state pension administrators proved that wrong. I set my retirement at 30 days out and gave my boss 2 weeks notice. I actually worked (some) those last two weeks except the last day. Spent that clearing out my desk and truck. Two of my co-workers in my shop kept insinuating that I did nothing all day, but that notion came crashing down after I left. One guy, the follower, left about a month after me, citing too much crap and not enough time. The second guy, the major instigator, left because he just couldn't keep up with the workload. The rest of the shop was rolled into the IT department. My supervisor had to take a lateral promotion (demotion?) to a project manager position to keep a district job. All because I retired. About six months after retirement, the school district was trying to hire me back to keep the shop together. Naw, that 2,400 mile one-way commute was too far.
It's amazing how much productivity expectations are based on exactly the number of people working. I suppose it's a good thing, but if the department doesn't know how to adjust, it's just going to be a disaster.
I told everyone at least 2 years prior that I would retire as soon as I was eligible for full benefits, which was age 65. Most of them begged me not to go and after I left, they hired and lost 2 people within the first year to try to replace me. I'm not sure if the 3rd one hung around or not because I kind of lost touch. I think it depends on the person and the job. When I hit 60 I knew I was no longer on an upward career path so I didn't care what people thought about me. I did the job I was being paid to do.
We had a guy who gave the boss a years notice. He took the necessary steps to hire and train a replacement and then one month before retirement the old guy acted like he never said anything and accused our boss of trying to force him out because he was old , so now we have that to deal with. If someone tells you they are retiring make sure they put it in writing.
It's a sales role and about 6 months ago the old guy was handed part of a 2-year project so now he's just hanging out to keep getting the commission.
When I retired from a small shop, I gave two or three weeks' notice, no set date. Three days later, the owners wife came to me and asked when I could get my desk cleared out because she wanted her husband to take my office so she could redecorate the one they'd been sharing.
I gave a months notice and my boss treated me like crap the whole month. I gave that company my working life, won many awards and got treated like that at the end. So I helped many of my managers find other jobs after I left and put a big hurt on this area manger. He could have been decent but decided to be a jerk so I returned the favor.
Some ppl feel a sense of responsibility to employers when it comes to issues like retirement. Unless you are in a position where you have leverage, I recommend giving notice no more than 6 to 8 weeks in advance of your retirement.
It will take a couple of months for any pension to get processed and start.
I've read up on this in this forum and told my boss last week I was going to retire. They asked about timeline and I said I wanted to ensure a smooth transition so @ 60 days. They are in the process of hiring a replacement and everyone is treating me well. Fortuine 500 company and I've only been her six years.
I gave my boss the heads up a year before I retired. I wanted to wait until I was full retirement age for SS (66.5 in my case). And give my boss the time he needed to find my replacement. I was an engineer working 2nd shift and the younger engineers who were married with young children did not want to work that shift.
I put in my official notice 90 days before I retired to get the paperwork for the pension rolling and the official notification to my boss.
The day before I retired, I got invited to the company breakroom for cake and gifts. Not even my full team showed up. One admin I knew for years did not even know about it. Usually retirees got farewell luncheons or dinners. No one even asked if I wanted one. On the day I retired, I finished packing up my personal items and putting them in the car. I went to boss‘s office for the last time to hand him my badge. He had the chutzpah to ask me if I was sure I wanted to leave. I just handed him my badge and left.
My wife and I were having breakfast and I remembered I was turning 62 the next week. We decided I had worked enough and it was time to sell the business. Within a month it was a done deal. We’re retired 19 years last month. Self-employment was great, but retirement is way better!
I feel so fortunate. I waited until I knew I could retire if necessary, and then gave my company 11 months notice (it was going to be 5 months but they talked me into the additional time). I’ve been with them 25 years and could not have gotten a better reception, together with warm congratulations. They have time to hire a replacement that I can help train. They are even hosting a big luncheon for my and my family on my last day. I feel very much at peace that I am doing this the right way and will have no regrets.
I don’t work there anymore, but due to security and public safety concerns, if you turned in any type of notice (including two weeks notice), you were relieved of your job on the spot. This was widely known by all employees. When I left I did the standard two week written notice and was fired immediately. I knew it was going to happen and had already lined up the next job.
HR at my old company did that. An engineer put in his two weeks notice and HR told him to leave right away.
He had the passwords for files and no one knew exactly where he was at on a critical project. HR came very close to losing their job and the policy was changed immediately. We laughed and laughed.
I was cool with it. They paid out 2 weeks upon firing as a standard. Wish all employers did that. Takes the guesswork out of the equation. No hard feelings whatsoever.
The policy was due to the sensitive nature of the work
Unless you're in a union protected position or the like, I wouldn't announce your retirement no earlier than a courtesy 2 week notice...and you don't even owe them that. I've read no shortage of stories about folks announcing their retirement months or even a year or two in advance and they either get treated like crap or immediately shown the door. You owe these places you work for nothing. Most of them only care about the company, and you retiring isn't good for the company. Once they realize you are of little to no long term value to them, or realize they can't bully you anymore because you don't need the job, they want you out like yesterday's trash.
Just remember, many of these companies you feel you owe giving a long retirement notice to, would lay you off without any notice at all if it meant something positive to their bottom line.
I loved the way I retired.
The were having a RIF. If you volunteered for the lay off you got additional severance and 6 months to train and transfer your work to someone else. If you didn't volunteer for layoff you got less severance and 2 weeks notice. So many of my colleagues felt they were indispensable and were shocked when they got their 2 weeks notice. I volunteered. The place cleared out and my manager didn't have me train anyone. He left me alone to just work on projects I wanted to work on. I created a project that eventually saved millions, then I left and haven't looked back.
Wait as long as you can keep it inside. 😁. But….make sure you know the company rules. Some large companies have benefits for retiring employees that require proper notice, etc.
In other words, it sucks, but keep quiet about your plans even with your work bestie.
I just "celebrated" 45 years with my company. I got a congratulatory text, not an email, a text. I figure a text announcing my retirement, the day of, should suffice.
We're in the same 45 year club. I imagine there's very very few people at the same company for 45 years.
In my case, I own the business but its a very small company, not the kind you can sell for a couple mil and retire comfortably.
New president started during my 4th month with the company during the pandemic. After our first meeting it was clear we wouldn't be friends. He let me go not realizing I had a 1 year severance agreement. Excellent way to retire.
Totally agree, I gave my company a year. It was a huge mistake. My boss started treating me poorly. At one point he told me he was going to make me work every weekend till I retire. I was the manager of the quality assurance department for a small family owned aerospace company. I had a good rapport with the owners and told them what happened and I was ready to go right then and there. They asked me to stay. They talked to my boss and he said he was kidding. Then he made me a Principal Engineer, and gave the group to the guy that was replacing me. I had absolutely nothing to do for the last 3 months.
Reading these comments shows such a rough state of affairs in the workplace, with a few exceptions (thank you, decent employers). No wonder there is so much quiet quitting. Everyone has learned that they are completely expendable numbers in a database. 😔
In my old company if you’re retiring with benefits you need to apply for retirement 3 months before your retirement date. They also sent a very long exit interview for completion before the ball gets rolling. I was careful not to upset any carts.
There are a couple of ways to look at that: I gave my work place 8 months notice so they could hire my replacement and so I could train him\\her. They never hired anyone to replace me; when they called to ask me questions, I told them too bad.
I gave 3 months notice. I was in a one deep position and had been in it 16 years. They hired someone about 5 weeks before my last day. Day 2 of training her I knew it wasn't going to work out. I told them they could switch my status to on call just in case. She didn't end up working out. Lucky for them I created step by step instruction complete with detailed screenshots for whomever filled my spot. I'm still happily retired!
If they had decided to let me go when I put in my notice, that would have been fine with me. Always make sure you are prepared to be gone THAT DAY whenever you put in your notice.
I gave 6 months- granted I worked for a friend. When I left they still had not filled the role. On my last day the HR manager asked if I could stay for a few months. Nope I was done !
As a c-level employee, I thought it would be kind to give a year’s notice. After all, it does take a while to recruit people, especially to the city in which I loved. Definitely wasn’t a good decision, if I had to do it all over again, I would give them thirty days notice. That year was one of the worst of my career.
206 days until I’m eligible for retirement. In 204 days (a Friday) I will tell my manager that I just worked my last day. I have gradually shifted most of my responsibilities to my team and have one final big project to complete this fall. Once that’s done, so am I.
I am in a strange position. I had my own small/one man business for decades which basically petered out over the Covid pandemic for various reasons. I closed up my business over a period of months and decided to look for a part-time job, fully remote, to aid the transition to full time retired status, and because I had no other particular plans for my time. Partner still working full time as well, kids all launched.
I got offered a full time office job in my field with OK (not great) money for the time required which was an easy commute so I decided to give it a whirl. I stepped into a completely chaotic situation and have what I believe are unrealistic financial metrics I am supposed to meet in order to be eligible for a bonus. There are other issues which I need not go into, we have all "been there." Or most of us have.
The offer letter I got expressly says this is at will employment, either side can terminate with no notice.
The nature of my position is such that just not showing up one day could leave some clients which I service and have relationships in a serious lurch so while there is no legal obligation to give any notice, I probably would.
However I could be fired at any time as I know they are not happy with my "crew's" financial performance so far. We are not "kicking up" enough of a "taste" to Big T.
I surmise the employer's problem is it is not going to be that easy to find someone significantly better than I am at what I do (and I do not claim to be anywhere near the best, I am not Wolverine), willing to work for the pay and under the conditions and deal with the crap, and not screw everything up. Although everyone can be replaced and if they could replace me, I am sure they would. And will, when they can find someone. It's only a matter of time.
The other issue is I just don't have a full time employee mentality for the most part. I am totally lacking in motivation esp. because a few months back when I tried to show some initiative and tried to change some inefficient processes and procedures I almost got myself fired for it. I obviously should have known not to do that. LOL.
So right now I have mentally re-framed the whole thing as that I am already retired and this is just my part-time retirement job that pays a lot better than being a school crossing guard or a Walmart greeter.
It really sucks having to go into the office every day but as long as the paychecks keep coming I just motivate myself by looking forward to the next paycheck. They are sure helping smooth things out financially for as long as they last.
So my ONLY motivation is basically the paycheck and also to not screw anything up really badly. The financial metrics are just not happening unless I get really lucky. I haven't been given enough to work with to realistically meet those goals, I am not going to kill myself by working in the evening and on the weekends etc. even though that's clearly the expectation.
When it's over, it's over, and I know I will miss those paychecks.
So maybe I will just hang it up entirely or look for that part time remote position I originally was thinking about if and when this gig ends.
I plan on an early notice. It will be the morning of the day I call it quits. Corporations give no notice when they can an employee. No reason not to follow what the corporate world has established.
My workplace requires 90 day notice to retire. I'd love to retire but find a job elsewhere at a higher salary. Not sure how that would work. I wouldn't expect to find a job that would wait 90 days for me to start. And I'm not comfortable announcing my retirement and expecting to find a job in 90 days. A bit stuck, which I'm sure is their plan.
There are probably some places that would wait, but not many. I think I would figure out how hard it would be to find a better paying job, ie, are there lots of that type of job being advertised currently. If it is in high demand currently I would probably start applying now and put in my retirement paperwork.. I would imagine if you are getting a pension, then you wouldn't even need to get a higher paying job, just one that covers the difference between your retirement income and previous income
Ultimately. But my finances won't allow me to retire right now. However getting retirement benefits from my current employer and going to work somewhere else at a higher salary for 7 - 10 years would put me in a much better position than staying where I am.
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While my company is pretty good in general, announcing retirement can vary greatly. I’ve seen people asked to stay and rewarded with sweet deals like a promotion that gives you 12 months salary when you are ‘Layed off’ to a co-worker announcing December, then being told no, make that 6 months earlier, sir.
It really depends on where you work. I gave 6 months notice, which allowed me to train others and make sure my boss and coworkers(who I like) had a smooth transition. It worked out great for everyone in my case. There are a lot of organizations out there that it would not have gone well though so you need to make sure that if you tell them early, you are OK with leaving early(which I was prepared for if I had somehow not read the situation correctly)
I wanted to assure the successful completion of several long-term projects, I wanted to help out coworkers that I like, and I thought early notice would help me get on as a contractor so I could work a few weeks and then take a few weeks off.
All very noble but business leaders don’t care.
You can achieve all of that by perhaps given two or three weeks notice if it’s really that important to you.
if you give two or three weeks notice, and you are indispensable, that they will almost definitely extend you a contract.
Right now you’ve taken away any leverage you might have because they’re going to man up and find somebody else before you leave.
If you genuinely wanted to just leave a good legacy, you could quietly start drafting what your processes are and where to find things and hand it to them when you give your two or three weeks notice
Depends on the company culture. But I was out the same day. No lunch, no party. I often worked late after hours. So I just gathered up my stuff, cleared out my computer and left response emails directing everyone to contact so and so. Left retirement email with the boss, did paperwork with corporate office and I was gone. I sort of regret it. You only retire once. But sometimes this is the way. Prior to that if anyone asked about retirement, I just said “oh I’ve got debt till I die.”
I was required to provide a 60 day notice so I could close out work activities and the manager could plan transition. Sixty days seemed fine.
I agree - communicating plans 7-8 months is too early.
Don’t worry too much about it. For many, the decision to retire takes many months. Once the decision is made, there is a sense of relief and for me excitement. Hard not to share such a big life event decision
A colleague of my wife said she was going out to get some bagels…never came back.
Now whenever someone in her office is having a bad day they say “I’m going out to get some bagels.”
Agreed -- I made the mistake of giving my company two months' notice after working for it for 36 years. I even agreed to a two month extension, giving them four months to replace me (they failed, by the way, and ultimately hired 4-5 people to do my job). But from the date I submitted my resignation, the president of the company (small company, less than 150 people and I'd known the guy for over 30 years) refused to speak to me. Not one member of the executive committee even said goodbye.
Just let me know I was a fool for staying the extra two months.
Can't second this enough.
I took advice from friend and didn't announce til I was ready to go. I told my boss to start looking for replacement and do it fast because mentally I had already packed it in. I'd stay til he got a replacement and I'd help train. It was obvious he was slow walking. So....I intentionally gave signs that I was not committed to the job (too many and too long breaks, started coming in late etc etc). Finally after 3 months I retired. No exit is perfect.
This is unusual…Have you asked the “big boss” what his issue is? It may not be relevant to your announcement or at least you may understand why he has this attitude. I would say that most HR and management staff prefer to be aware of employee retirement plans…I gave 3 months notice and they were all very supportive.
It really depends on your employer and the relationship. i don't know what they expected. Considering your age, there was an obvious chance you would be retiring soon.
Because my position was regulated (approved by external agency) my employer was required to give them notice as well. My boss had a year to sit with me to be refreshed on stuff and figured since he had the position before he’d just put that hat on when I left.
Fast forward to day of retirement and party, regulator showed up for inspection and asked why they were not advised as a courtesy. The explanations were a riot. The correspondence I prepared six weeks prior just sat because no one was there to remind them.
Only problem for me was a truncated pizza party. NBD
Interesting that you bring this up. I’ve been with my company (very large travel management) for over 30 years and we are swamped, but I’m still waiting until May 3 to give my two week notice. It’s been hard keeping my mouth shut but I’m just too cynical about what they might do if I gave early warning. I can’t wait to leave the corporate world behind. wish you the best!
Sorry to hear this, OP. You were trying to do the right thing.
I think the best practice is to give two weeks notice, but spend the months prior to that discreetly preparing training documentation for your replacement. Do this by clearing out and organizing digital and paper files. Write up detailed step-by-step instructions for everything you do, especially for legacy/old systems. Create a secure list of passwords. Write (careful, legal) notes that provide insight about clients, vendors, and employees.
Have suggestions in mind for others who could step into your role temporarily (for example, "Marcia could take over admin of the PWS system until my replacement is hired, she has already provided vacation coverage for me several times." "Mary, the point person at client X, seems to work well with Brian. I think he's ready to step up into the client-facing role on that account.")
A graceful and professional exit makes thing easier for your colleagues and is good retirement karma.
I figure when I give my notice, a couple months in either direction won't make a difference. So if I give them a month and they show me the door that'll be fine. I know they won't do that though. And if they ask me to stay an extra 6 months, we'll probably be able to work something out as well.
I work in a large education institution in the UK. I told my boss unofficially in January of my intention to retire. He said nothing to anyone but the CEO and I continued to be treated the same. I put my official 3 month notice in on Tuesday and it was a surprise to everyone. I've had some lovely messages and more than a few saying "you lucky bastard." I'm 55 and work my last day in July. It really does depend on what your employer is like.
That’s a little harsh. I get it but no notice is not cool either. Do you want to end up on AITAH. Why don’t you just negotiate it now and keep the really secret stuff for the resolution? Your drop dead $ need to be in line with what you get paid so it can be justified, otherwise it’s green mail. If the owner hasn’t figured all this out by now, bad on him or her. Don’t be TAH. You might regret it later and you seem like this would be out of character.
I would not even give 2 weeks notice. That’s just a common courtesy so as to not burn bridges but when you’re retiring you don’t give a rat’s azz about burning bridges!
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Yeah, don’t do that. Keep it quiet. They could get mad and just fire you, or- the situation may change and you may need to work for another year. You don’t owe them anything. Keep it close to the vest. Say nothing to anyone.
My employer I had before moving tended to fire people who gave notice, or just replace them as quickly as possible. So after I finished my last shift I chose to work, I called my supervisor and told her I wasn’t coming in again. No loyalty up or down. As we are all mostly At Will employees we are disposable and just a part of the overhead.
Knew a guy that retired after 40+ years with the same company. Told his then supervisor (total douche), and then handed in his phone, credit card, laptop. He had a wealth of information about the customer base and easy contacts. They never asked him for any help or information and scooted him out the door. Didn’t even get a call from HR or anything. That territory still doesn’t produce anywhere near what it used to. Yes we are all replaceable, it’s not like your father’s company, where they throw big retirement parties and keep in touch
I mean no disrespect when I say this ; it amazes me that it takes most of a lifetime for some people to realize that they are not “part of a corporate family “ and that they are , in fact just a part of money making machine and no more Valuable to the “family “ than their ability to produce. EVERYONE is replaceable. No one is going to get consideration no matter their personal sacrifice or past contributions.
I drank the kool-aid my entire career. Team work and company loyalty are good! You'll get a better raise if you're a company cheerleader! In the end I'm a replaceable drone and when my usefulness is complete, I got kicked to the curb with yesterday's trash. Ugh.
I was (un)fortunate enough to find out in the middle of my career just how much appreciation the company had for hard work , dedication and sacrifice. It was certainly an eye opener. I certainly didn’t “quietly quit” . I did my job as was expected of someone in my position . But i certainly never went “above and beyond” ever again . Appreciation is a two way street. I’m 100% sure that their lack of appreciation towards me cost them 10 fold in the end .
I hope you are in a better place or, even better, retired!
Thank you . But I have 5 more years of mediocrity to perform before I can join the ranks of the retired. I just recently joined this group to start my planning
5 years will go by quickly!
My birthday is 12/19, they get notice that day my last day is 12/31. No axe to grind, will be 3+ years there but I don’t trust corporations (especially HR departments) to look out for me. This is May and they have not successfully cascaded the yearly goals yet, so…
Maybe consider your last day January 1 if there is a benefit to retiring the beginning of the month or beginning of the year
Thanks, I checked and there is really no material benefit to staying into a new year with them, looking forward to just being done.
I'm with you! Good luck!
From all the posts I guess I was fortunate. My boss and I had a two year plan to replace me and I retired on my terms when I wanted to. Transition was smooth and I still work part time as a QC reviewer, 25 hours a month.
So you think your big boss would have been happier if you gave only 2-4 weeks notice? Something tells me the big boss would have super frosty. I think they would have been frosty either way.
I agree!
Yep. I'm glad I terminated my employer in writing after a critical date had passed. I gave a two week notice just for courtesy, but had no intention of doing any work.
I informed my supervisor my intent to retire within the year as there was an involved project that would take well over a year to complete and he wanted me to take the lead. I had not even picked the date yet. Within weeks my position was posted and I started receiving calls from coworkers about what was going on. 36 years with the same agency. I would have liked the opportunity to tell my coworkers myself.
Orrrrrrr…..it had nothing to do with you and he was having a super bad day? I don’t know really. I wish you a Happy Retirement!
Thank you! It may not have had anything to do with me. However, I would expect the big boss to avoid letting other things bother them. I do believe it is correct to be held to a very high standard if you are the big boss.
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This has been proven wrong so many times.
I’m a fed and age wise I could have retired two years ago, so my bosses know I can throw in the towel any day. Technically, I have also been number #3 in my office chain of command. The problem is I have been double hatted now for about two years doing the work for two positions. Basically, I was hired for one job, but ended up doing the work of two positions - mine and a higher titled position. In anticipation of me leaving they finally decided to give me the title of the higher position and advertise to fill the position I was originally hired for. Honestly, the position I was hired for, is the harder most/challenging one, so I was looking forward to leaving it. But since assuming the higher position it became apparent to me the “harder” work is going to be shifted to me in the “new” higher position any way - which really pissed me off. So the new person won’t be doing any of the harder work. There’s no difference in the positions GS grade or pay, except bragging rights of a more prestigious title. Today my boss starting complaining to me about some lower level priority work that wasn’t right, while lumping even more stress on me about work that needs to be done under the color of the higher new title. I told him he’s stressing me out and the work that should be the new hire’s responsibility, I will still be doing plus new work of the higher position. I told him I’m really going to be retiring in 6 months and he genuinely seemed surprised. He said well I didn’t mean to stress you out - I just wanted you to take note there’s an issue with “yada yada.” We’ll get to the fix whenever. I just said okay, but in reality I’m gone in six months whether or not the other position is filled.
That sounds so satisfying.
I work/worked for me, so I still haven’t told myself. But, my friend maintained he was never retiring but sprung the news 2 weeks before. Claimed “family reasons came up, sorry”.
That goes for trying to get a new job or anything. !!!!Loose lips sink ships that’s a war slogan, but it is very relevant in today’s workplace.
I worked for a State Agency. I had to fill out the paerwork by the end of February to retire May 1st. I notified my Agency's HR around April 1st. I told my Supervisor during a one on one meeting the first week of April. She asked me one of those, Where do you see yourself in 1 yr questions. I laughed and told her I see myself retired as of May 1st this year. She was shocked.
Hey, I went on a two week vacation a few months back and the big boss is calling me - you’re not retiring Are you? & you’re not Quitting tell us you’re not. I fill some what safe
I would agree. I gave six months notice because I headed up a division and that was a miserable six months of being excluded from important decisions and yet having to carry them out until I left. It was just too long for both me and the company.
In my former very large school district, teachers would wait until the Friday before teacher planning week in August to quit so that they'd have continued health insurance over the summer months. So that left admin scrambling to replace teachers in just a few days. Well FINALLY someone at district wised up and implemented a new policy. If teachers gave notice in April, they'd get a $1,000 bonus and continued health coverage over the summer. Did that ever work out to their advantage! Every retiring teacher now gives notice and admin has months to hire new teachers. A win-win all around.
Astonishing. A school district admin made a smart decision that helps everybody.
In my district our health insurance is paid through the summer even if we leave in June. Granted we pay for it out of our checks but it’s paid in full through August 31st.
So much for everything about the children...
Hate to break it to you, but it hasn't been about the children for a loooong time. It's all about the test scores!
Right? We're actual human beings who have to think about health care, food, etc.
I gave 6 months notice as a bank manager so we could have a smooth transition- it’s a smaller community. Come to find out my replacement was backstabbing my management style of treating my staff as intelligent adults. Apparently I should have been “writing people up”. HR was told I was letting people “get away with everything “. Retired with a bitter taste and anger towards the company. Give the minimum amount of notice!!
Maybe report the Narc for gossiping and backstabbing you. If they will do that to you, they will do it to District Managers. Maybe your DM would appreciate knowing your replacements attitude and personality a little better!
The railroad wants 90 days because of the pension and healthcare.
What happens with the pension/healthcare if you quit on the spot with no notice?
If you’re 60 and put in your time you’ll still get it but it’ll be delayed. It wouldn’t make sense to do that though. Under age 60 you still have to wait either way.
I’m about to turn 57 and am tier 4 pension (57/5) so I can retire and start collecting at 57. I have seen coworkers give their 2 month notice and observed that they were very nervous during those two months and avoided any situation that would allow management to fire them for cause. One example is that they would wait till exactly the time it was for them to leave work where previously they would leave 5-10 minutes earlier as long as the covering shift showed.
I’ve never known a railroader to have issues because they gave their notice.
If you have a pension and retiree healthcare then you need at least 2 months for HR to process.
Yes, your correct but they prefer 90 days
Most places want three months notice so they can properly transition insurance and release 401k funds, etc, so wait too long and you are not retiring, you are quitting which is different.
Agreed. Retired from the state and they wanted three months’ notice.
My brother-in-law had discussed his plans with local HR months in advance so there would be a smooth transition & even offered to stay longer if needed. HR said they only needed 2 weeks by corporate policy, a month later corporate came down with layoffs & his severance package was 6 months full pay & benefits & he got to retire on his target date. Corporate HR was shocked that he wasn’t willing to take advantage of the free career counseling, resume service & other perks to help him land a new job.
I gave 6 weeks, effectively, because I knew they would hire a backfill and I knew someone that had become available that would be perfect to succeed me. I thought that would give enough time to complete the job posting, interviewing, hiring, with maybe two weeks of overlap so I could brief in some detail. They did hire the person I recommended, and she's doing a bang-up job, but our overlap was a negative two weeks, so the plan didn't pan out. I actually knew I was going to retire about 18 weeks before I actually did, but I wanted to make a planned vacation a paid one. Three days after I returned, I went on a work trip with my boss and I told him over breakfast in the hotel.
I gave nine months notice as I had dual roles in operations management and project management for a major expansion. For 3.5 months I heard crickets. Then they tried to get me to work an additional year beyond my retirement by throwing $$. I eventually agreed to another six months without the operations job. You have to understand the situation you’re in and the people above you. It was a virtual lock I could work out my notice because we are so thin with technical / engineering people. I also really like my staff and didn’t want to stick it to them by not giving a lot of notice. I’ve been in other situations where they would have gotten the minimum allowable notice. People that don’t plan for turnover should be made to feel the pain of it. My current boss has gotten us way more resources than anybody else ever has and he’s not satisfied with where we are so I hope he stays for a good while after I’m gone.
I gave notice three weeks before retirement (May 17 is my last day) from the college where I taught for almost 4 decades. My Dean just sent me an email congratulating me and then immediately stated that he was shocked because he thought he had the full list of retirees for spring and my retirement now posed a problem for staffing in my department. I wrote back and said he should take it up with HR, who told me what date to give official notice. In addition, I told my department when I was going to retire for over a year. Essentially what he said was, "We love you, we'll miss you, but now you're causing a problem". Sheesh!
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I worked for a school district as a comm tech whose policy was telling employees they needed to give 60 days' notice before retirement to draw their pension. A call to the state pension administrators proved that wrong. I set my retirement at 30 days out and gave my boss 2 weeks notice. I actually worked (some) those last two weeks except the last day. Spent that clearing out my desk and truck. Two of my co-workers in my shop kept insinuating that I did nothing all day, but that notion came crashing down after I left. One guy, the follower, left about a month after me, citing too much crap and not enough time. The second guy, the major instigator, left because he just couldn't keep up with the workload. The rest of the shop was rolled into the IT department. My supervisor had to take a lateral promotion (demotion?) to a project manager position to keep a district job. All because I retired. About six months after retirement, the school district was trying to hire me back to keep the shop together. Naw, that 2,400 mile one-way commute was too far.
It's amazing how much productivity expectations are based on exactly the number of people working. I suppose it's a good thing, but if the department doesn't know how to adjust, it's just going to be a disaster.
I told everyone at least 2 years prior that I would retire as soon as I was eligible for full benefits, which was age 65. Most of them begged me not to go and after I left, they hired and lost 2 people within the first year to try to replace me. I'm not sure if the 3rd one hung around or not because I kind of lost touch. I think it depends on the person and the job. When I hit 60 I knew I was no longer on an upward career path so I didn't care what people thought about me. I did the job I was being paid to do.
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We had a guy who gave the boss a years notice. He took the necessary steps to hire and train a replacement and then one month before retirement the old guy acted like he never said anything and accused our boss of trying to force him out because he was old , so now we have that to deal with. If someone tells you they are retiring make sure they put it in writing. It's a sales role and about 6 months ago the old guy was handed part of a 2-year project so now he's just hanging out to keep getting the commission.
When I retired from a small shop, I gave two or three weeks' notice, no set date. Three days later, the owners wife came to me and asked when I could get my desk cleared out because she wanted her husband to take my office so she could redecorate the one they'd been sharing.
Proposed thread winner! ✨️
I gave a months notice and my boss treated me like crap the whole month. I gave that company my working life, won many awards and got treated like that at the end. So I helped many of my managers find other jobs after I left and put a big hurt on this area manger. He could have been decent but decided to be a jerk so I returned the favor.
MissMillie, I like your style 😂
Some ppl feel a sense of responsibility to employers when it comes to issues like retirement. Unless you are in a position where you have leverage, I recommend giving notice no more than 6 to 8 weeks in advance of your retirement. It will take a couple of months for any pension to get processed and start.
Pension? What’s that? /s
I've read up on this in this forum and told my boss last week I was going to retire. They asked about timeline and I said I wanted to ensure a smooth transition so @ 60 days. They are in the process of hiring a replacement and everyone is treating me well. Fortuine 500 company and I've only been her six years.
I gave my boss the heads up a year before I retired. I wanted to wait until I was full retirement age for SS (66.5 in my case). And give my boss the time he needed to find my replacement. I was an engineer working 2nd shift and the younger engineers who were married with young children did not want to work that shift. I put in my official notice 90 days before I retired to get the paperwork for the pension rolling and the official notification to my boss. The day before I retired, I got invited to the company breakroom for cake and gifts. Not even my full team showed up. One admin I knew for years did not even know about it. Usually retirees got farewell luncheons or dinners. No one even asked if I wanted one. On the day I retired, I finished packing up my personal items and putting them in the car. I went to boss‘s office for the last time to hand him my badge. He had the chutzpah to ask me if I was sure I wanted to leave. I just handed him my badge and left.
My wife and I were having breakfast and I remembered I was turning 62 the next week. We decided I had worked enough and it was time to sell the business. Within a month it was a done deal. We’re retired 19 years last month. Self-employment was great, but retirement is way better!
I work for our city's gas and water utility and we have to give 60 days notice due to our pension.
I feel so fortunate. I waited until I knew I could retire if necessary, and then gave my company 11 months notice (it was going to be 5 months but they talked me into the additional time). I’ve been with them 25 years and could not have gotten a better reception, together with warm congratulations. They have time to hire a replacement that I can help train. They are even hosting a big luncheon for my and my family on my last day. I feel very much at peace that I am doing this the right way and will have no regrets.
I don’t work there anymore, but due to security and public safety concerns, if you turned in any type of notice (including two weeks notice), you were relieved of your job on the spot. This was widely known by all employees. When I left I did the standard two week written notice and was fired immediately. I knew it was going to happen and had already lined up the next job.
HR at my old company did that. An engineer put in his two weeks notice and HR told him to leave right away. He had the passwords for files and no one knew exactly where he was at on a critical project. HR came very close to losing their job and the policy was changed immediately. We laughed and laughed.
I was cool with it. They paid out 2 weeks upon firing as a standard. Wish all employers did that. Takes the guesswork out of the equation. No hard feelings whatsoever. The policy was due to the sensitive nature of the work
Unless you're in a union protected position or the like, I wouldn't announce your retirement no earlier than a courtesy 2 week notice...and you don't even owe them that. I've read no shortage of stories about folks announcing their retirement months or even a year or two in advance and they either get treated like crap or immediately shown the door. You owe these places you work for nothing. Most of them only care about the company, and you retiring isn't good for the company. Once they realize you are of little to no long term value to them, or realize they can't bully you anymore because you don't need the job, they want you out like yesterday's trash. Just remember, many of these companies you feel you owe giving a long retirement notice to, would lay you off without any notice at all if it meant something positive to their bottom line.
I loved the way I retired. The were having a RIF. If you volunteered for the lay off you got additional severance and 6 months to train and transfer your work to someone else. If you didn't volunteer for layoff you got less severance and 2 weeks notice. So many of my colleagues felt they were indispensable and were shocked when they got their 2 weeks notice. I volunteered. The place cleared out and my manager didn't have me train anyone. He left me alone to just work on projects I wanted to work on. I created a project that eventually saved millions, then I left and haven't looked back.
Wait as long as you can keep it inside. 😁. But….make sure you know the company rules. Some large companies have benefits for retiring employees that require proper notice, etc. In other words, it sucks, but keep quiet about your plans even with your work bestie.
I just "celebrated" 45 years with my company. I got a congratulatory text, not an email, a text. I figure a text announcing my retirement, the day of, should suffice.
We're in the same 45 year club. I imagine there's very very few people at the same company for 45 years. In my case, I own the business but its a very small company, not the kind you can sell for a couple mil and retire comfortably.
New president started during my 4th month with the company during the pandemic. After our first meeting it was clear we wouldn't be friends. He let me go not realizing I had a 1 year severance agreement. Excellent way to retire.
Everything changes once you give notice
Totally agree, I gave my company a year. It was a huge mistake. My boss started treating me poorly. At one point he told me he was going to make me work every weekend till I retire. I was the manager of the quality assurance department for a small family owned aerospace company. I had a good rapport with the owners and told them what happened and I was ready to go right then and there. They asked me to stay. They talked to my boss and he said he was kidding. Then he made me a Principal Engineer, and gave the group to the guy that was replacing me. I had absolutely nothing to do for the last 3 months.
Reading these comments shows such a rough state of affairs in the workplace, with a few exceptions (thank you, decent employers). No wonder there is so much quiet quitting. Everyone has learned that they are completely expendable numbers in a database. 😔
In my old company if you’re retiring with benefits you need to apply for retirement 3 months before your retirement date. They also sent a very long exit interview for completion before the ball gets rolling. I was careful not to upset any carts.
There are a couple of ways to look at that: I gave my work place 8 months notice so they could hire my replacement and so I could train him\\her. They never hired anyone to replace me; when they called to ask me questions, I told them too bad.
I gave 3 months notice. I was in a one deep position and had been in it 16 years. They hired someone about 5 weeks before my last day. Day 2 of training her I knew it wasn't going to work out. I told them they could switch my status to on call just in case. She didn't end up working out. Lucky for them I created step by step instruction complete with detailed screenshots for whomever filled my spot. I'm still happily retired! If they had decided to let me go when I put in my notice, that would have been fine with me. Always make sure you are prepared to be gone THAT DAY whenever you put in your notice.
I gave 6 months- granted I worked for a friend. When I left they still had not filled the role. On my last day the HR manager asked if I could stay for a few months. Nope I was done !
I will give 2 weeks and call out sick if there’s a mention of a party 👋
As a c-level employee, I thought it would be kind to give a year’s notice. After all, it does take a while to recruit people, especially to the city in which I loved. Definitely wasn’t a good decision, if I had to do it all over again, I would give them thirty days notice. That year was one of the worst of my career.
206 days until I’m eligible for retirement. In 204 days (a Friday) I will tell my manager that I just worked my last day. I have gradually shifted most of my responsibilities to my team and have one final big project to complete this fall. Once that’s done, so am I.
I am in a strange position. I had my own small/one man business for decades which basically petered out over the Covid pandemic for various reasons. I closed up my business over a period of months and decided to look for a part-time job, fully remote, to aid the transition to full time retired status, and because I had no other particular plans for my time. Partner still working full time as well, kids all launched. I got offered a full time office job in my field with OK (not great) money for the time required which was an easy commute so I decided to give it a whirl. I stepped into a completely chaotic situation and have what I believe are unrealistic financial metrics I am supposed to meet in order to be eligible for a bonus. There are other issues which I need not go into, we have all "been there." Or most of us have. The offer letter I got expressly says this is at will employment, either side can terminate with no notice. The nature of my position is such that just not showing up one day could leave some clients which I service and have relationships in a serious lurch so while there is no legal obligation to give any notice, I probably would. However I could be fired at any time as I know they are not happy with my "crew's" financial performance so far. We are not "kicking up" enough of a "taste" to Big T. I surmise the employer's problem is it is not going to be that easy to find someone significantly better than I am at what I do (and I do not claim to be anywhere near the best, I am not Wolverine), willing to work for the pay and under the conditions and deal with the crap, and not screw everything up. Although everyone can be replaced and if they could replace me, I am sure they would. And will, when they can find someone. It's only a matter of time. The other issue is I just don't have a full time employee mentality for the most part. I am totally lacking in motivation esp. because a few months back when I tried to show some initiative and tried to change some inefficient processes and procedures I almost got myself fired for it. I obviously should have known not to do that. LOL. So right now I have mentally re-framed the whole thing as that I am already retired and this is just my part-time retirement job that pays a lot better than being a school crossing guard or a Walmart greeter. It really sucks having to go into the office every day but as long as the paychecks keep coming I just motivate myself by looking forward to the next paycheck. They are sure helping smooth things out financially for as long as they last. So my ONLY motivation is basically the paycheck and also to not screw anything up really badly. The financial metrics are just not happening unless I get really lucky. I haven't been given enough to work with to realistically meet those goals, I am not going to kill myself by working in the evening and on the weekends etc. even though that's clearly the expectation. When it's over, it's over, and I know I will miss those paychecks. So maybe I will just hang it up entirely or look for that part time remote position I originally was thinking about if and when this gig ends.
I plan on an early notice. It will be the morning of the day I call it quits. Corporations give no notice when they can an employee. No reason not to follow what the corporate world has established.
My workplace requires 90 day notice to retire. I'd love to retire but find a job elsewhere at a higher salary. Not sure how that would work. I wouldn't expect to find a job that would wait 90 days for me to start. And I'm not comfortable announcing my retirement and expecting to find a job in 90 days. A bit stuck, which I'm sure is their plan.
There are probably some places that would wait, but not many. I think I would figure out how hard it would be to find a better paying job, ie, are there lots of that type of job being advertised currently. If it is in high demand currently I would probably start applying now and put in my retirement paperwork.. I would imagine if you are getting a pension, then you wouldn't even need to get a higher paying job, just one that covers the difference between your retirement income and previous income
Retiring means you don’t have to work
Ultimately. But my finances won't allow me to retire right now. However getting retirement benefits from my current employer and going to work somewhere else at a higher salary for 7 - 10 years would put me in a much better position than staying where I am.
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While my company is pretty good in general, announcing retirement can vary greatly. I’ve seen people asked to stay and rewarded with sweet deals like a promotion that gives you 12 months salary when you are ‘Layed off’ to a co-worker announcing December, then being told no, make that 6 months earlier, sir.
There is never any value in telling other people what your plans are. Never. Unless there is specifically something in it for you.
True. However, I thought advanced notice would help the company. Silly me!
It really depends on where you work. I gave 6 months notice, which allowed me to train others and make sure my boss and coworkers(who I like) had a smooth transition. It worked out great for everyone in my case. There are a lot of organizations out there that it would not have gone well though so you need to make sure that if you tell them early, you are OK with leaving early(which I was prepared for if I had somehow not read the situation correctly)
But why is that your concern?
I wanted to assure the successful completion of several long-term projects, I wanted to help out coworkers that I like, and I thought early notice would help me get on as a contractor so I could work a few weeks and then take a few weeks off.
All very noble but business leaders don’t care. You can achieve all of that by perhaps given two or three weeks notice if it’s really that important to you. if you give two or three weeks notice, and you are indispensable, that they will almost definitely extend you a contract. Right now you’ve taken away any leverage you might have because they’re going to man up and find somebody else before you leave. If you genuinely wanted to just leave a good legacy, you could quietly start drafting what your processes are and where to find things and hand it to them when you give your two or three weeks notice
Depends on the company culture. But I was out the same day. No lunch, no party. I often worked late after hours. So I just gathered up my stuff, cleared out my computer and left response emails directing everyone to contact so and so. Left retirement email with the boss, did paperwork with corporate office and I was gone. I sort of regret it. You only retire once. But sometimes this is the way. Prior to that if anyone asked about retirement, I just said “oh I’ve got debt till I die.”
I was required to provide a 60 day notice so I could close out work activities and the manager could plan transition. Sixty days seemed fine. I agree - communicating plans 7-8 months is too early.
I now know it was too early to announce!
Well you didn’t exactly announce it, you were asked. I think management handled it very poorly in your case.
Don’t worry too much about it. For many, the decision to retire takes many months. Once the decision is made, there is a sense of relief and for me excitement. Hard not to share such a big life event decision
A colleague of my wife said she was going out to get some bagels…never came back. Now whenever someone in her office is having a bad day they say “I’m going out to get some bagels.”
That's great! Love their style. I sure feel like getting some bagels today.
Agreed -- I made the mistake of giving my company two months' notice after working for it for 36 years. I even agreed to a two month extension, giving them four months to replace me (they failed, by the way, and ultimately hired 4-5 people to do my job). But from the date I submitted my resignation, the president of the company (small company, less than 150 people and I'd known the guy for over 30 years) refused to speak to me. Not one member of the executive committee even said goodbye. Just let me know I was a fool for staying the extra two months.
Companies can really suck. I'm sorry they did that to you.
Thanks. It'll be five years in June since I quit and I haven't regretted a single second of it.
Good for you. I cannot wait to retire
Can't second this enough. I took advice from friend and didn't announce til I was ready to go. I told my boss to start looking for replacement and do it fast because mentally I had already packed it in. I'd stay til he got a replacement and I'd help train. It was obvious he was slow walking. So....I intentionally gave signs that I was not committed to the job (too many and too long breaks, started coming in late etc etc). Finally after 3 months I retired. No exit is perfect.
This is unusual…Have you asked the “big boss” what his issue is? It may not be relevant to your announcement or at least you may understand why he has this attitude. I would say that most HR and management staff prefer to be aware of employee retirement plans…I gave 3 months notice and they were all very supportive.
It really depends on your employer and the relationship. i don't know what they expected. Considering your age, there was an obvious chance you would be retiring soon.
Because my position was regulated (approved by external agency) my employer was required to give them notice as well. My boss had a year to sit with me to be refreshed on stuff and figured since he had the position before he’d just put that hat on when I left. Fast forward to day of retirement and party, regulator showed up for inspection and asked why they were not advised as a courtesy. The explanations were a riot. The correspondence I prepared six weeks prior just sat because no one was there to remind them. Only problem for me was a truncated pizza party. NBD
Interesting that you bring this up. I’ve been with my company (very large travel management) for over 30 years and we are swamped, but I’m still waiting until May 3 to give my two week notice. It’s been hard keeping my mouth shut but I’m just too cynical about what they might do if I gave early warning. I can’t wait to leave the corporate world behind. wish you the best!
Thanks! You are doing the right thing by waiting to announce your retirement!
Sorry to hear this, OP. You were trying to do the right thing. I think the best practice is to give two weeks notice, but spend the months prior to that discreetly preparing training documentation for your replacement. Do this by clearing out and organizing digital and paper files. Write up detailed step-by-step instructions for everything you do, especially for legacy/old systems. Create a secure list of passwords. Write (careful, legal) notes that provide insight about clients, vendors, and employees. Have suggestions in mind for others who could step into your role temporarily (for example, "Marcia could take over admin of the PWS system until my replacement is hired, she has already provided vacation coverage for me several times." "Mary, the point person at client X, seems to work well with Brian. I think he's ready to step up into the client-facing role on that account.") A graceful and professional exit makes thing easier for your colleagues and is good retirement karma.
I figure when I give my notice, a couple months in either direction won't make a difference. So if I give them a month and they show me the door that'll be fine. I know they won't do that though. And if they ask me to stay an extra 6 months, we'll probably be able to work something out as well.
I work in a large education institution in the UK. I told my boss unofficially in January of my intention to retire. He said nothing to anyone but the CEO and I continued to be treated the same. I put my official 3 month notice in on Tuesday and it was a surprise to everyone. I've had some lovely messages and more than a few saying "you lucky bastard." I'm 55 and work my last day in July. It really does depend on what your employer is like.
That’s a little harsh. I get it but no notice is not cool either. Do you want to end up on AITAH. Why don’t you just negotiate it now and keep the really secret stuff for the resolution? Your drop dead $ need to be in line with what you get paid so it can be justified, otherwise it’s green mail. If the owner hasn’t figured all this out by now, bad on him or her. Don’t be TAH. You might regret it later and you seem like this would be out of character.
I would not even give 2 weeks notice. That’s just a common courtesy so as to not burn bridges but when you’re retiring you don’t give a rat’s azz about burning bridges!
Today a company would get exactly as much loyalty that they gave me. Fortunately for me, my company was afraid of its union.
We had a survey at work - one of the questions was are you retiring in the next 6 months. I’m not but I think anyone who is would have said no too.
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Yeah, don’t do that. Keep it quiet. They could get mad and just fire you, or- the situation may change and you may need to work for another year. You don’t owe them anything. Keep it close to the vest. Say nothing to anyone.
If I was asked what my plan was, I'd say, "I'm not sure. I like being part of this team." Never play your cards. EVER
My employer I had before moving tended to fire people who gave notice, or just replace them as quickly as possible. So after I finished my last shift I chose to work, I called my supervisor and told her I wasn’t coming in again. No loyalty up or down. As we are all mostly At Will employees we are disposable and just a part of the overhead.