Author Topic: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?  (Read 14751 times)

limeandpepper

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Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« on: April 23, 2014, 10:36:33 PM »
As my sabbatical date looms closer this is something I've been thinking about. I've worked in the same company for nearly 7 years now and the rapport I have with my department/team is possibly one of the reasons I've stayed as long as I have. I mean, I don't mind the work, either, but it's nice to have people I get along with and we have enjoyable conversations about stuff other than work. I don't really miss them when I'm on holiday, but I wonder if I will miss these dynamics if I do leave my job for good.

If you have already retired, do you miss any of your ex-colleagues? If you are still working, do you think you'll miss your colleagues when you retire? And would you continue to catch up with your old colleagues after retirement, or will they just be replaced by other social circles?

shuffler

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2014, 01:52:29 AM »
13 years at my company.

We have fairly high rates of movement across teams, so there isn't anyone in my daily job whom I've known for more than 5 years, and even those are rare.  Expecting people to move around, relationships stay pretty business-oriented, even for those few who have been around the longest.

So no, not for a second.

greaper007

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2014, 04:45:18 AM »
I left my job 5 years ago in May, and I don't remember most of their names.   

hybrid

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2014, 05:08:15 AM »
Closing in on 10 years at my current job. I like the people I work with, but I don't see them outside of work. Therefore I won't miss them all that much when I eventually leave. I like golf and Eurogames and am living an MMM lifestyle, so it's rare for me to make a good friend at work since my tastes are so different from most.

Kepler

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2014, 05:15:24 AM »
No. :-)

RetiredAt63

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2014, 05:21:17 AM »
Some of them, yes.  And we keep in touch.

I miss the interaction with students, but students come and then they go, so no expectations there.

Rural

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2014, 05:58:36 AM »
Frankly, while I may not miss certain specific colleagues one bit :-) I will miss having educated people to talk to. There aren't many of those where I live, and so my fellow professors do fill an important niche for me.


I've not yet determined how I'll resolve this problem, but I think teaching online and therefore keeping up some ties may be part of the solution.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2014, 06:04:00 AM »
I can honestly say that I think about moments, laughs etc.. but beyond that I dont miss them at all. Its kinda like when i was in the Navy 30+ years ago , those guys were my buds and when i got out said we will be in touch but never happened.  For lack of better term as we evolve so do the people we meet that fit our new lifestyle when we retire and you start making new memories.

Dr. Doom

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2014, 06:16:57 AM »
As my sabbatical date looms closer this is something I've been thinking about. I've worked in the same company for nearly 7 years now and the rapport I have with my department/team is possibly one of the reasons I've stayed as long as I have. I mean, I don't mind the work, either, but it's nice to have people I get along with and we have enjoyable conversations about stuff other than work. I don't really miss them when I'm on holiday, but I wonder if I will miss these dynamics if I do leave my job for good.

If you have already retired, do you miss any of your ex-colleagues? If you are still working, do you think you'll miss your colleagues when you retire? And would you continue to catch up with your old colleagues after retirement, or will they just be replaced by other social circles?

I've been on vacation for 2.5 weeks now and haven't once thought "Gee, I should stroll by the office to say hi to those folks that I share cube time with."  And I say this even though I generally like my co-workers -- they're good people for the most part, smart, funny, all that stuff.   My brain categorizes them as 5-minute increment hallway-anecdote time-wasters.  Nice enough, but not real friends.



NeverWasACornflakeGirl

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2014, 08:30:54 AM »
June 2 will be my last day, and one of my biggest regrets will be the daily interactions with the people at work.  I've moved around to different companies (and even different careers), but I always miss the people.  I tend to really bond with people, so when someone leaves our department I really miss them, and when I leave a job I miss the people I worked there.

I'm close enough to some of the people at my job that I'm planning to go back and have lunch with them once a month or so, and we're on Facebook, so I hope to be able to keep in touch that way, too.  There are other people who've retired or left our department and they still come back and have lunch with us, so I feel pretty comfortable thinking that we'll stay in touch.

lizzzi

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2014, 08:35:28 AM »
As much as I've always enjoyed many of the people I've worked with, I've found since leaving the workforce that work friendships--no matter how pleasant--are work friendships. They seem like "real" friendships, but they are pseudo-friendships. Those folks will not be interested in you or there for you when you leave the job. There may be an occasional touch-base phone call or lunch date, and they may want to know..and send a card…if something really major happens in your life. (Death of a parent--a biggie like that.) But don't for a minute hesitate to leave a job because you think you will miss the people. You may have the tiniest tad of nostalgia ( probably not), but it is surprising how those feelings evaporate when you're not all working together. So how do you find real friends? When most of us spend most of our time with work companions? Boy, I wish I knew. I just try to reach out and establish good relationships with whoever is around at the time, and also try to keep decent social dynamics going with my relatives.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2014, 08:48:28 AM »

My area is pretty good for a rural area, but yes.  I miss the intellectual side of my job.

Frankly, while I may not miss certain specific colleagues one bit :-) I will miss having educated people to talk to. There aren't many of those where I live, and so my fellow professors do fill an important niche for me.

zinnie

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #12 on: April 24, 2014, 08:53:02 AM »
YES. I work with a really, really great group of people. Interesting, smart, well-read, fun, and active. My bosses have been my mentors, not just for career skills but for personal development as well. We have kept in touch from previous companies to now and I know at least some of us would keep in touch in the future.

I haven't thought about it too much because I have five more years, but I know when it gets closer I will probably worry about suddenly leaving this whole network of people that I have spent so much time building up. These are people who have called me when a job opened up they thought I would be good for, and promoted me beyond my "experience" because they had faith in me. They been such a huge, important part of my life so I know I will miss them, a lot.

But I guess that doesn't make me any less ready to move on. I still don't like going to work every day...

brewer12345

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2014, 09:09:50 AM »
I have been out for just over 3 months.  Some people moved on before I did and the ones I consider friends I am in regular touch with.  Some people who are still in the salt mine (and will be for years to come) I regard as friends and I am still in touch perhaps monthly.  Others I have little or no contact with, even though we were friendly.  It is what it is.  Part of the challenge of keeping up is that many of the people I am friends with live hundreds of miles away.

citrine

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #14 on: April 24, 2014, 09:34:47 AM »
When I first left, yes...and we met for lunch for 5-6 months afterwards.  Now 5 years later...not at all!  The lunches went away....they would spend the hour bitching about work and I would spend the hour with a big, silly smile on my face.  Misery loves company and I was not miserable any more ;)
Today, I do miss having co-workers and I need to network with other therapists in the area and go out for dinner...haven't looked into it much though.  Sometimes, I think maybe I should go an work one day outside of my studio, but after 5 years on my own...I would not be able to work for anyone else! 

Catbert

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #15 on: April 24, 2014, 11:33:53 AM »
Worked for the same government agency for a loooong time.   I saw many people come and go while I worked.  Only kept up with one after she retired (now deceased).

Now I've been retired 5 years. There's only one person I've kept in regular touch with.  A couple others I see maybe once a year.  You quickly lose interest in hearing about work changes, reorgs, bullshit procedures and psycho managers.

NV Teacher

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #16 on: April 24, 2014, 02:21:04 PM »
Most definitely yes!   I work with a fabulous group of people and expect to finish my teaching career here.  I have lucked into working at one of the few schools in my district with very very low teacher turn over and a principal that works to hire people that will add to the high standard of professionalism that we now enjoy.  I'm very blessed.

nushagak

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #17 on: April 24, 2014, 03:01:03 PM »
No.

I left full-time employment (for someone else, in an office) in 2009 to work in my own company full-time. This includes long spells of working and living from the same 1000-1300 sq ft. Sometimes I miss regular human interaction but that in no way outweighs the benefits of avoiding petty office politics, small talk, gossip, someone stealing your lunch, commuting, having to maintain a work wardrobe, loss of the time spent commuting, etc.

MrsPete

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #18 on: April 24, 2014, 03:23:40 PM »
I'll definitely miss my work friends. 

I ran into an older woman with whom I worked waaaay back when I was just out of college, and she commented to me that she and the other ladies her age who all retired "together" get together once a month for breakfast to catch up, and I thought that sounded like a great idea.  I really did enjoy hearing from her about how all those folks were doing -- they were all very kind to me when I was a new, floundering teacher. 

CarDude

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #19 on: April 24, 2014, 03:27:09 PM »
I've had so many jobs over the years I can barely remember the names of the places, never mind the coworkers.

Rural

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #20 on: April 24, 2014, 04:10:46 PM »
Frankly, while I may not miss certain specific colleagues one bit :-) I will miss having educated people to talk to. There aren't many of those where I live, and so my fellow professors do fill an important niche for me.


I've not yet determined how I'll resolve this problem, but I think teaching online and therefore keeping up some ties may be part of the solution.

My grandmother, who was a housewife, had a really rough time after she was widowed. My grandparents were both very smart with an intellectual bent, and when he died, she found it hard to meet similarly inclined people.


You've just nailed my biggest fear.

oldtoyota

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #21 on: April 24, 2014, 05:58:01 PM »
I am surprised so many other people won't miss their coworkers. I feel the same way.

chicagomeg

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #22 on: April 24, 2014, 06:37:08 PM »
I consider one of my coworkers my very best friends. I'm quitting this summer to go to grad school and I know its going to be really hard not seeing her every day! I'm very lucky that I truly like my coworkers!

Suit

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #23 on: April 24, 2014, 08:04:34 PM »
I'm still working and I love my job and colleagues so much that I'm not even sure that I'll actually retire when I'm able to, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there!

deborah

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Re: Do you / Will you miss your colleagues?
« Reply #24 on: April 25, 2014, 12:37:54 AM »
I really thought some people would keep in touch, and we were "real" friends. We had worked together for 6 years. I tried. It didn't happen - except for one person from several jobs ago, who only worked with me for a few years.

Missing my colleagues - yes, every so often I think about them, and am so happy I retired! Some recollections show me how much better off I am now.

 

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