Sorry You're Leaving: What to Write in a Leaving Card

By the time it reaches your desk — face down, passed along by someone whispering that it's for Thursday — six people have already been in it. You can see all of them. Four have written "Good luck in your new role!" Two have gone with "You'll be missed!" and an exclamation mark. Someone has drawn a small sad face.

That is the actual problem with leaving cards, and no amount of thinking about the perfect sentiment solves it. You are writing in public, after everyone else, in a space the size of a stamp, about a person who is usually sitting about ten metres away and will read every entry in one sitting.

Two things follow from that.

Being generic is worse here than anywhere else. On a birthday card, "happy birthday, have a great day" passes unnoticed. On a leaving card it sits directly underneath four identical versions of itself, and the person reading can see exactly how much thought went into each one. The bar is not eloquence — it is simply not being the seventh identical entry.

One specific detail is the entire job. The project you got through together. The thing they always did that nobody thanked them for. The morning they covered for you. Nine words about something real beats forty words of good wishes, and it is the line they will still be able to picture years later.

The wording below is grouped by your actual position — how well you knew them, whether you managed them, whether the circumstances were difficult — because that, and not the occasion, decides what you should write.

The rule for writing in a leaving card

Read what is already there before you write anything. This takes ten seconds and it is the single most useful thing you can do, because it tells you which lines are already taken and roughly how long people are writing.

Then: one specific thing, one good wish, your name.

The specific thing is the part that matters. It does not need to be profound — a shared project, a habit of theirs, a moment they helped you out. The good wish can be as ordinary as "good luck", because by then you have already said something nobody else could.

On length, match the space rather than your feelings. If the card is half full, three lines. If it is nearly full, one sentence written small in a corner is better than cramming a paragraph sideways up the edge.

Sorry you're leaving card messages

• Sorry you're leaving, genuinely. This place got easier to work in the day you started.
• Sorry you're leaving — though from what you've told me about the new job, I'd have taken it too.
• Sorry you're leaving. Selfishly I wanted you to stay. Sensibly, go and be brilliant.
• Sorry you're leaving, and thank you for the years of covering for the rest of us.
• Sorry you're leaving. You made a difficult year considerably less difficult. I won't forget that.
• Sorry you're leaving. Whoever inherits your desk has no idea what they're following.
• Sorry you're leaving — though I suspect you'll be back for the Christmas do.
• Sorry you're leaving. Take the good habits with you and leave us the spreadsheet.
• Sorry you're leaving. You were the reason this team actually worked.
• Sorry you're leaving, but delighted for you. Both things are true.

What to write when the card is nearly full

• Good luck. You'll be missed more than you think.
• Thanks for everything — really.
• It won't be the same. Go be brilliant.
• Best of luck. Keep in touch, properly this time.
• You made this place better. Thank you.
• All the best. Their gain, obviously.
• Thanks for the years. Genuinely.
• Off you go. Come back and visit.
• You'll be missed. Best of luck with everything.
• Good luck — and thank you for the patience.

Funny leaving card messages

• Congratulations on your escape. Send help.
• You're leaving me alone with them. I won't forget this.
• Thanks for taking the blame for the printer that time.
• Best of luck. Your mug is now communal property.
• You've left a hole in this team and a lot of unread emails.
• Don't worry, we'll keep your calendar full of meetings you're no longer in.
• Leaving is a bold move. Enjoy the corridor with actual daylight.
• We'll tell your replacement you were difficult. Keeps the standard low.
• Good luck. If it doesn't work out, your chair's still slightly broken.
• You're not leaving, you're just working somewhere with better snacks.
• Thanks for never once suggesting a team-building day.
• Off to a place that doesn't know about the incident. Lucky you.

If you barely know them

• Best of luck in the new role. It was good working alongside you.
• Wishing you all the best with what comes next.
• Good luck — everyone speaks very highly of you, and now I see why.
• All the best. Enjoy the new chapter.
• Wishing you every success in the new job.
• Good luck with everything. It was a pleasure working in the same team.
• Best wishes for the move. You'll do brilliantly.
• Sorry we didn't work together more. Best of luck with the next one.

If you worked closely with them

• Nine months on that project and I'd do it again with you, which is the highest praise I have.
• You taught me most of what I actually know about this job. Thank you for that.
• I'll miss the eleven-minute catch-ups that were never eleven minutes.
• You made the difficult bits survivable. That's not a small thing and I want you to know it.
• Thanks for always telling me when I was wrong, before anyone else noticed.
• Half of what I'm proud of here has your fingerprints on it. Good luck.
• You are the only person who ever read my documents properly. I'm not over it.
• Working next to you was the best part of this job. Genuinely.

If you are their manager

• You've grown enormously in the time you've been here, and I've been glad to watch it. Good luck.
• Thank you for everything you've contributed. You're leaving this team better than you found it.
• You've been a pleasure to manage — direct, reliable and always prepared. They're lucky to have you.
• Sorry to lose you, genuinely pleased for you. Do keep in touch.
• Thank you for your work here and for the way you did it. Best of luck in the new role.
• You raised the standard for everyone around you. That outlasts the handover notes.

If they are leaving in difficult circumstances

• Thinking of you. Whatever comes next, it's lucky to be getting you.
• It's been a genuine pleasure working with you. Do stay in touch.
• Wishing you the very best. You have a lot of people here in your corner.
• Thank you for everything you brought to this team. My door is open, always.
• Whatever happens next, you'll be fine — and you have my number.
• You'll be missed here. I mean that.

Teacher leaving card messages

• Thank you for making a subject I dreaded into one I looked forward to.
• You were the teacher who noticed when something was wrong. That mattered more than the lessons.
• Thank you for the patience, especially the year I did not deserve it.
• The school is losing something it will struggle to replace. Thank you for everything.
• Thank you for expecting more of me than I expected of myself.
• Good luck. Generations of us will remember you, which is the whole point of the job.

What not to write

Six things that reliably land badly, most of them common.

• "Good luck in your new role!" as your whole entry. Four people have already written it. It reads as having nothing to say.
• Anything about why they are leaving, unless you are certain of the reason and certain they are happy about it. Resignations are not always voluntary and the card is read by everyone.
• Jokes about the company, if a manager is signing the same card. Save those for the pub.
• "Don't be a stranger" followed by no contact details. If you mean it, write your number.
• Inside jokes nobody else understands, if the card is going in a frame. One is charming; a column of them makes the card unreadable for everyone else.
• Anything about their replacement. It is a live topic and it is not yours to comment on.

Getting the card round in time

Two practical notes, since somebody usually ends up running this.

Start it before the last week. Leaving cards die on the desk of whoever is on holiday. If the leaving date is Friday, send it round on Monday of the week before, not Wednesday of the week itself.

Remote colleagues get missed every single time. The paper card goes round the office and the three people who work from home hear about it afterwards. If part of the team is remote, or the person is leaving a distributed team entirely, a group leaving card solves the geography — one link, everyone writes their own entry from wherever they are, and it arrives complete. It also removes the queue problem in one respect, since nobody has to write around someone else's handwriting and the card cannot fill up.

For longer wording rather than card-sized lines, the farewell messages for a coworker collection has more material, and funny farewell messages covers the humour at greater length than the card-length jokes above.

Frequently asked questions

What do you write in a leaving card?

One specific thing about working with them, one good wish, then your name. The specific detail is what makes it land — a project you got through together, something they always did, a time they covered for you. Read the existing entries first so you are not the seventh person writing "good luck in your new role", which is the most common mistake and the most avoidable one.

What does "sorry you're leaving" mean on a card?

It is the standard British phrasing for a farewell card given to someone leaving a job, and it is doing two jobs at once: expressing genuine regret that they are going, and congratulating them on whatever comes next. That double meaning is why it works so well as an opening line. Say it, then add the specific bit, which is how most of the wording above is built.

What is a short message for a leaving card?

"Thanks for everything — really" or "It won't be the same. Go be brilliant" both work on their own. Short is often the correct choice rather than the lazy one, particularly when the card is nearly full. One sentence written properly in a corner reads far better than a paragraph crammed sideways up the margin.

Can you be funny in a leaving card?

Yes, and humour usually lands better than sentiment in a work leaving card, because everyone else has gone sentimental. Aim the joke at the situation rather than at the person — the printer, the meetings, the fact that you now have to do their job. Avoid anything about the company itself if a manager is signing the same card, and avoid anything about why they are leaving.

What do you write if you barely know the person?

Keep it short, warm and honest. "Best of luck in the new role, it was good working alongside you" is completely sufficient, and nobody expects more from someone in another team. Trying to sound close to a person you have spoken to four times is more awkward than being brief, and it is obvious in a card everyone reads.

What do you write if someone is leaving under difficult circumstances?

Say less, and make it warm rather than celebratory. Skip "congratulations" and anything about exciting new chapters, because you may not know the full picture and neither does anyone else signing. "Thinking of you — whatever comes next is lucky to be getting you" works without assuming anything. If you genuinely want to stay in touch, write your number rather than saying "keep in touch".

When should a leaving card be sent round?

Start it at least a week before the leaving date. Cards stall on the desk of whoever is off sick or on holiday, and the person organising it always underestimates how long it takes to reach everyone. If part of the team is remote, a digital card avoids the problem entirely, because the link reaches everyone at the same time.

What do you write in a teacher's leaving card?

Name something they actually did for you rather than praising them in general. Teachers receive a great many cards saying they were inspiring; the ones they keep say what specifically changed. A single sentence about the subject you stopped dreading, or the time they noticed something was wrong, does more than a paragraph of thanks.