31 Retirement Thank You Messages To Coworkers and Bosses

When you retire, you may want to write a thank you message or letter to your boss or coworkers.

This type of note is similar to writing a farewell message. However, the note’s tone may differ when retiring since you are leaving the workforce instead of changing jobs. 

The sample messages below are retirement thank you messages to colleagues. Please see this post for thank you notes written to the retiring person. 

If you want to maintain friendships with coworkers after you retire, RetiresGreat says that it will take work on your part. Providing your contact information is good, but you may need to make an effort and reach out to those you want to remain friends with.  According to Retirement Voices, many work-friend relationships will drift away once you no longer work together.

Email vs. Handwritten Retirement Thank You Note Considerations

I like handwritten notes and usually recommend them. An emailed thank you message may feel less personal and memorable. 

However, if you, the boss, or whoever you want to thank is working remotely, asking for their home address may feel awkward. So, an email thank you will be just fine! If you work at a location, handwritten notes or letters can be handed to the recipients. 

Also, when saying goodbye and thanking coworkers that you do not know quite as well, you may want to send a group email. 

If you have not worked with someone closely, you may have difficulty thanking them specifically for anything. Hence, a general thank you message is okay and still acknowledges your working relationship with them. 

If you decided on handwritten notes, when choosing the note card or stationary, you could use this opportunity to select a card design that represents you. For example, you could choose a cat design if you love cats. Or, if you plan to do lots of golfing, choose a golf-themed note card.

Short Retirement Thank You Messages To Boss 

Here are short thank-you messages for your boss when you retire. These messages could be used in longer thank-you letters. 

1. As I retire, thank you for being a fantastic boss during my last few working years. You’re an excellent leader. 
2. Thank you for your years of guidance and support. 
3. I loved working for you. Thanks for everything! 
4. Thank you for recruiting me for your team all those years ago. It was one of the best decisions you ever made. I will miss working with you. 
5. My [wife/husband/partner] is looking forward to being my boss as I leave the workforce. Hopefully, [he/she] will be as good as you were! 
6. Thank you for having an office retirement party for me. You’ve been a kind and thoughtful boss. 
7. Thanks for being a great boss! It was a pleasure working for you.
8. What an excellent way to end my career! Thanks for the party and awesome send-off. 
9. I enjoyed being on your team. Thank you for being a fun boss. 
10. Thanks for all that you did for me. I will always be grateful for the opportunities I was given while you were my boss.

Short Retirement Thank You Messages To Coworkers

Here are short thank-you messages for your colleagues when you retire. These messages could be used in longer thank-you emails or letters.

1. I will miss chatting with you every day! Thank you for all of the interesting conversations. 
2. Thanks for being a fun and upbeat coworker. My time at the office was enjoyable because of you. 
3. Thank you for being a great team. We accomplished a lot together during my time here. 
4. I appreciate the friendship we developed while working on the same projects. I will miss you when I retire.
5. Goodbye, team! Thank you for being my 9-to-5 family for the past five years. 
6. As I retire, thank you for always being willing to help me over the years. You’re a fantastic coworker that anyone would be happy to have. 
7. You’ve been a wonderful colleague and friend. I wish you all the best!
8. Working with all of you has been a pleasure and a privilege. Thank you for everything. 
9. Thank you for sitting next to me for the past year. I’m sure my spot will be hard to fill! 
10. Thank you for making work so enjoyable and memorable. I will miss you all. 

Retirement Thank You Letter Template

Person’s Name (omit for group email)

Thank you for…..[express why you are saying thank you]. [Remember, specific is better than general, thank you]. 

Share a compliment or memory (optional). 

Review the examples here if you also need to thank you for a retirement party or gift (you can add wording from those examples to your letter).

Provide contact information (if you want the person to have it). 

Sincerely,

Your Name

Note: Words in [brackets] can be replaced as needed for your note or letter. 

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Boss #1 

Dear Randy,

As I retiree, I want to thank you for all the years that you were a wonderful boss.

I appreciate your guidance and mentoring as I grew as a programmer. The training class you recommended changed my life for the better. I learned to love programming, and with your help, I was able to give my best to [company name]

Also, I have enjoyed our friendship and hope to stay in touch once I retire. 

Here is my contact information:

Personal Email Address

Phone number

Mailing address

Sincerely,

Heidi 

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Boss #2 (including party)

Dear Elwood,

My retirement is finally here! I am so grateful you’ve been my boss for the past few years. Working for you has been a pleasure. I feel fortunate that I was assigned to your team because our work ethic and goals are similar. It made getting to my retirement feel easy. 

I am also grateful for the flexibility I was granted whenever I needed to take time off for sick kids and the other times when my family needed to come first. 

I was very surprised by the retirement party that you organized for me! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to say goodbye to the team in a fun way. 

Please keep in touch! My phone number is ###-###-####. 

Sincerely,

Jake

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Boss #3 (including party and gift)

Crystal,

Thank you for being a great boss. For many years you’ve been an excellent listener whenever problems came up. Your ability to problem-solve and keep the team united is fantastic.

With my retirement day just around the corner, I wanted you to know that I appreciate you. I know being the boss can be challenging!

Also, thank you for the retirement [what the gift was].  [Add sentence about the present].

The retirement party for me was special. I was surprised by how many people came from my past projects and teams. Interacting with everyone and wishing everyone the best was the perfect way to end my career with [company name].

Sincerely,

John

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Supervisor #4 (including party and gift)

[Name],

Thank you for being such an excellent supervisor. You’ve always been a great listener whenever a situation arose throughout the years. 

With my retirement approaching, I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you. You helped me improve my skills and grow in my career. 

I will remember you by the retirement picture frame. The saying on it is perfect for me! 

And the retirement party was awesome. The number of people that came from previous projects and teams astounded me. It was the ideal way to end my time with [business name] because I could see everyone again. 

Best regards,

[Your Name]

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To  Coworker – Individual #1

Bob,

I have enjoyed working with you over the years. You’ve probably heard by now that I am retiring and my last day will be next Friday.

I want to thank you for all of your collaboration on the [project name]. Our different perspectives and being able to work through possible solutions helped make the end product better. I will miss our in-depth discussions about [topic]. 

And I appreciate how you are always willing to help me or anyone that needs help with [skill/topic]. 

I want to stay in touch during my retirement. So let’s plan to meet for lunch in a couple of months. [Provide a phone number if the person doesn’t have it already.]

All the best,

Julie

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To  Coworker – Individual #2 (with gift)

Karen,

I am looking forward to retiring next week! Before I go,  I want to let you know that I appreciate how creative you are and your kindness to everyone. You are the best coworker.

Also, thank you for the gift card to [restaurant name]. You are also a great listener remembering how much I like [type of food]. Also, I’m so thankful that you told me about lazy portfolio investment strategies all those years ago. What I learned helped me to retiree sooner. 

I will miss chatting with you as we did most days while working. So let’s try to stay in touch. 

All the best,

Melissa

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Coworkers – Group Email  #1

Hello,

As you may know already, I am retiring next week! My last day will be on the 15th.

You’ve been wonderful coworkers, and I want to thank you for our time working together.

While I will miss the team, I don’t think I will miss working!

If you ever want to get together or chat, my phone number is [list phone number]. Feel free to text or call.

Kind regards,

Buster

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Coworkers – Group Email  #2 (with party)

Dear team,

Can you believe that I am finally retiring after # years? I’m thankful we ended up on the same team for the last few years.

Getting to know all of you and working together has been a delight. I appreciate our friendship and hope to stay in touch for years.  My personal email address is [email address].

Also,  thank you for having a retirement party for me! The cake was delicious, and it was fun hearing some of you share your favorite memories of working with me.

Kind regards,

Joe

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Coworkers – Group Email  #3 (with party)

Hello all,

It’s been a pleasure getting to know all of you and working with you. As I retire, I want you to know that I value our friendship and hope we can keep in touch for many years. 

Thank you also for throwing me a retirement party! I appreciated that someone remembered that I prefer pie to cake. The apple pie was delicious. 

My personal email address is [email address], and my phone number is 999-999-9999. Feel free to text or call sometime! 

All the best,

[Your Name]

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Coworkers – Group Email  #4

This note could be for a large number of people. Or if you want to be polite about your retirement but don’t really want to thank them for anything (not everyone has great coworkers.)

Hello,

My time as your coworker will end soon as I retire on Friday. I’ve had a wonderful experience working with you, and I wish you all the best for your future.

Provide contact information only if you want to, as only some people want to maintain friendships with coworkers.

Best Regards,

[Your Name]

Example Retirement Thank You Letter To Colleagues – Group Email  #5

This note includes an invitation for your coworkers to provide you with their contact information. 

Hello,

I hope you saw the announcement about my upcoming retirement on [date].  I’ve enjoyed working with you and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

If you’d like to stay in touch, please reply with your contact information.

Best Regards,

[Your Name]

Related Posts:

• Retirement Thank You Notes To The Retiring Boss, Employee, or Coworker
• 25 Thank You Messages For Retirement Gift Or Party