We’ve compiled a collection of farewell and retirement speeches that can be used by people who are about to retire from a variety of jobs. We hope they’ll help you prepare a speech that expresses your heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to your coworkers and colleagues as you end a long and dedicated career.
Union President Retirement Speech
Good afternoon, Mr. ○○○, President of our company, and all of you who have participated in this ceremony, thank you so much for staying with me until the end.
Dear members of our company, the eventful past year has already passed and the dawn of a new year has already broken. The past year has been a jewel for me, and it has also been one of the most precious life experiences I have ever had, sharing the highs and lows with you. I still remember the promise I made to you at my inauguration last year. I wanted to collect the opinions of each and every one of you as much as possible and do my best to make the union more democratic. I think you’re the best judge of how much we’ve accomplished in the past year, but if I dare to put myself in your shoes, I think we’ve become a more proactive organization where members can freely express their opinions. In particular, it was a year in which we gradually evolved from an executive-centered system to a member-centered system. We also had several talks with the company and tried to communicate our opinions to each other, so I think we have created an environment where we can work together in the right direction.
Above all, I think I tried to keep my ears open to actively collect your opinions from the union members’ point of view and take action. As a result, although we did not achieve all the goals we wanted, such as employment stability, the introduction of a five-day workweek, and improved welfare benefits, I think we have reached a certain level of stability. Without your unity in fulfilling my resolutions last year, I think we would not have been able to reach the goals we wanted. I would like to ask you to show the new chairperson who will succeed me the strength of your unity. I have no doubt that the new chair will be able to take our union to new heights, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about him, and I’m very encouraged and happy for him. Finally, I wish you the best of luck in accomplishing what you set out to do. As a permanent member of the company, I will work even harder wherever I am. I thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with us today, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Thank you very much, everyone.
Retirement speech from the Director of the Volunteer Center
It’s been said that fall is a season of reflection, a season of parting. There is also a story that the best weather for a goodbye is a rainy day, but I don’t think so. To me, fall is the season of return after a hard summer. Gone are the scorching sun and moody weather, but in their place are high skies and cool breezes. This calm, grown-up season is often likened in literature to coming of age. It’s a time of rest and relaxation after the struggles and endeavors of youth, and of course, it’s also a time of winding down. It’s a season of finishing things rather than starting things, of reaping rather than running for things, and that’s why it’s so nerve-wracking and very embarrassing to stand here. Maybe it’s because I’m standing in front of people I miss, and I’m sorry to be here, because I’m standing in front of people who have been so important to me.
I think back over the years. I first joined the Volunteer Center in 1985 at the suggestion of a friend, when volunteering was an awkward vocabulary. Since then, it has been like an arrow in the sky. In the early days, we went to the marginalized neighborhoods and welfare facilities by ourselves to help and share our warm hearts, and we were satisfied with the pure and unconditional volunteer service. I would like to convey my respect and reverence to the volunteers who shared great and small joys with us then and still maintain that attitude to this day.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Volunteer Center, and as the Center serves as a systematic window for volunteers and an intermediary for efficient volunteering, and as the Basic Act on Volunteer Activities has changed to the era of volunteer certification and the recognition that volunteering is a civic responsibility, you, the volunteers, who are doing valuable and proud activities as a social resource, are the true VIPs of this era. They are the bees and butterflies of the community, giving their precious time, talent, and energy to spread the goodness of their community and society without expecting anything in return. Thank you to our volunteers who are always ready, motivated, and eager to share whenever someone asks for their services. I am so touched by the sweat and hard work of volunteers that I can safely say that there is a connection between us that I can see in their eyes, hear in their voices, and understand what they mean. I think it’s a connection that the years have created.
In the meantime, I’m just happy, my heart has purified itself. I’ve gotten paid to do the work that I love to do, that fits my aptitude, and I’m grateful for the support and encouragement that volunteers have always given me. I bow my head and thank you, volunteers, for creating beautiful memories in my life, the priceless jewels that come from years of volunteering.
I left my steady job with “Volunteering is a boomerang, volunteering is a memory of life!” in my heart. I was happy to be surrounded by so many volunteers who always support me when I am lacking, and I love them. Thank you very much.
Farewell from the employee representative
Good morning everyone, it’s a cool fall morning. My elderly father called me this morning, wondering when I would be coming down to my hometown for the holidays. It seems like I’ve been busy with my life and the holidays are already upon us. Now, tomorrow, I’ll be able to put my busy life aside for a while and have a relaxing, unhurried holiday this year. Fall is a season of abundance and leisure. It’s a season that makes me crave time to read. I apologize to my juniors, but I think I can now enjoy the books I’ve been wanting to read and the abundance of the holidays. Thank you so much for everything you’ve given me.
We often say, “Time flies,” and I feel like I’m finally realizing that statement. It seems like just yesterday I was taking those first steps, and now it’s been 18 years and 6 months. Time doesn’t hold us back, and you, my junior colleagues here, are definitely taking a back seat to the silent passage of time. I’ve had the pleasure of laughing and crying with you, sharing life and work with you, and I can’t help but feel a bit sad that I’m being pushed to the back of the line. Life is meant to take us apart, and when it does, please remember the good. No matter when or where we meet, please remember me not as someone you don’t want to meet again, but as someone you’d like to meet again, someone you can shake hands with even at a distance. Now that I’m leaving, I’m left wondering why I didn’t do more to be remembered in a good light.
I apologize if I have unintentionally caused you pain or distress during my time with the company, and I hope that you will understand my shortcomings and forgive me graciously for any misunderstandings or unintentional hurt I may have caused. I hope you will know that these sentiments are sincere, and I will always remember our time together as a once-in-a-lifetime relationship, and I wish you all good health and happiness.
A fall farewell from an employee
This summer has been tough for everyone. The heat and floods swept through and took a toll on our mountain. It was a very heartbreaking summer, and now that it’s over, we’re looking forward to fall. With the change of seasons, fall seems to have arrived with the holidays. Our own holiday celebrations are upon us, and I wish you a bountiful and happy holiday season.
I’m here today to say one last goodbye to you. While retirement is something to be celebrated in some ways, I can honestly say that I’m sad to see you go. The sun was glorious this morning, and the clouds were beautiful as they drifted by. The sunlight filtering through the leaves was beautiful. The sunlight on the tips of the pine needles was beautiful. The golden glint of sunlight lingering on the tips of the grass was beautiful. The cosmos blooming along the roadside was beautiful, and the fall sky was beautiful, too.
The funny thing is, these things are not unique to today, they’ve been here before, and I’ve lived with them all my life, but they never felt as intense as they did this morning. None of the sunshine, clouds, or wind seemed out of place this morning. When I dig up my digs today and walk out the door, I’ll be a new man in the world, and a new man in society. I’ll also be a newcomer, and the more I do, the more I’ll miss the company, and the more I’ll miss it. I can’t say anything because my heart is so full of nostalgia that it leaves me speechless. Even now, I’m speechless with a mixture of nostalgia and regret.
It has been a great honor for me to meet you all here and to know your faces. Our relationships with people are so important in our lives. When I look back over the past 30 years, I realize that I have been blessed with good colleagues. I’ve had friends to comfort me when I’ve been down, coworkers to hold my hand when the company has gone through a rough patch, and people to celebrate when I’ve gotten married and had children. If I hadn’t been at ○○, I wouldn’t have met any of you, and even though I’m leaving this company today, I don’t think that’s where our relationship ends. I hope I’m remembered in your memories as someone you’ll miss, someone who leaves a big hole in your hearts. So with that, I’ll take my leave, and thank you.
A final farewell before leaving the company
Time flies by. It’s already the middle of winter, and as the year comes to a close, I think about the things I didn’t do, the mistakes I made, and I wonder why I didn’t do them better. I woke up this morning and looked at my calendar with the number 12 on it and stood there for 10 minutes without speaking. A panorama of what has happened to me in the past year flashed through my mind, and the 30 years I’ve been with the company went by at breakneck speed. What have I been doing during that time, and was I really the kind of senior that my juniors would look up to? After much deliberation, I came to the conclusion: ‘I don’t know.’ After all, respect or not is not my choice. It’s December already. As the year 2022 comes to a close, I’m winding down my working life.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m getting older. I’ve been thinking a lot about my age and the responsibilities that come with it. How much have I contributed to the development of the company over the past 30 years or so, and have I neglected to take care of myself and my family because I was only looking out for the company? Maybe I don’t want to admit that I’m aging because I’m not taking care of myself.
However, I suddenly realized that time is passing and I need to accept this fact. So, I set two goals for a happy retirement. The first goal is “positive aging”. Positive aging is about loving and working, learning things you didn’t know yesterday, and cherishing the time you have left with the people you love. Perhaps learning new things and spending time with my loved ones will make the next 20 years fly by, so I now try to make time for me and my family.
The second goal is to “age with dignity. We need to be able to take care of others. We need to be able to take care of not only our own family, but also our neighbors. I think the hardest thing for an older person to do is to try to learn from the next generation, but just being willing to learn, no matter how old you are, is a way to age with dignity in my opinion.
Every human life has its own unique ending, and if you continue to follow that predestined path, you will surely reach that ending. The ending of your life is something that can be changed even now, and that’s how I will live my retirement. To the rest of you, as I get older, every minute is so precious, but I don’t think I realized that when I was younger. I hope you don’t waste your time as much as I did. Thank you.
Office worker retirement speech
Hello everyone, the weather is bitterly cold. The weather has been cold since the end of November, and it’s even colder in December. At this rate, it looks like the ground and plants will all freeze before spring arrives. Some say this is the beauty of winter, but for me, who suffers a lot from cold, it’s a real pain. However, they say that a cold winter is necessary for a beautiful spring, because if the winter is not cold, there will be a lot of pests in the spring when it comes. So my wish for a warm winter is selfish of me to think about the natural law, but it’s true that my heart feels colder than the weather in December right now. That’s because December is the last month of the year, and it’s also the last month of my work life.
While others may be wrapping up the year, I’ve spent the last few days reflecting on the nearly 10 years I’ve worked at the company, whether I’ve been a necessary or unnecessary part of the organization, and what my humanity has been like as a colleague – all of which are conclusions I’m not sure I’m comfortable with. However, it is true that I tried very hard to adapt to organizational life. At first, I thought that I only needed to do my job well, and I thought that the organization was not important. But I realized that a company is not the strength of one person, but the strength of everyone, which is the strength of the organization. I learned how important it is to adapt to organizational life. Now, as a senior leaving this company, I have a wish for you, the juniors. My hope is that the juniors will understand the nature of the organization as the colleagues they met in the organization, and that they will show a strong image of their willingness to actively participate in the thoughts of their superiors with a friendly spirit. Only then can they become the necessary people who are recognized in the organization. In addition, as a leader, you need to understand exactly where the company is going and make it clear to the members of the organization. As a leader, you need to lead in one direction and make the organization look strong. This is what I wanted my corporate life to be like, but I guess it didn’t go as smoothly as I had planned. Now I’m here to leave the organization and move on with my life, and I’m so grateful to the company for everything so far. I think I’m standing here today because of the guidance and support of my bosses, who took someone like me and made me work for nearly 30 years.
I would also like to thank my coworkers who have worked with me. They have been closer to me than anyone else, helping me through good times, bad times, and difficult times. I don’t think this parting will be permanent, so my departure is not as heavy as it should be. I will cherish this relationship, and thank you for everything.
Public Service Retirement Statement
I would like to thank everyone here today for taking time out of their busy schedules to come to my retirement ceremony and offer words of congratulations and encouragement. I can’t help but realize the impermanence of the years as I face my own retirement, which I thought was someone else’s business not long ago.
I am saddened to realize that I am leaving after 35 years of public service, and I am filled with emotions as various events of the past years flash through my mind like a movie. I have spent 35 years of my life in public service. I consider it my great blessing that I have been blessed with the grace of many people, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude.
As I look back on my public service, I realize how difficult it is for a person to spend a lifetime without regrets. Now that I have finally reached retirement age, I feel that I have many regrets.’Confucius’ said that if you do not plant trees when you are young, you will have no shade to rest in old age. I wonder how much shade I will have when I reach retirement without having done anything to be proud of.
It seems like only yesterday that I was in public service 35 years ago with youthful hopes and blue-sky dreams, but the years have flown by without saying a word, bringing us to today. Looking back at the past, I have gone through so many unfathomable things. I and the local residents, sometimes like family and sometimes like neighbors, have shared the highs and lows of life and death. I have had many times of sadness and precious rewards in my work, and I have come to the end of my public service, which is the end of my retirement. However, I will try to show everyone that this is not the end, but a new beginning, and I will enter the society and live another life hard. I will always pursue such a life that is an example to others, and I will try to make it a life of service and dedication to society.
Even if I leave, I will not go far away, I will be close by, and we can always meet again. I sincerely hope that whenever and wherever we meet, we will be able to reunite with each other and have a pleasant reminiscence. When you have a family reunion, please let me know and I will be sure to attend.
I would like to thank my colleagues for their cooperation and consideration over the years as we have worked together in various locations. To the residents, with whom I have always laughed and cried at the local sites, I thank you for allowing me to leave with honor today. Thank you.
A heartfelt retirement letter
Dear colleagues, thank you so much for everything. We often say that “time is like a stream of water.” I feel like I’m finally realizing this saying. It seems like it was just yesterday that I took my first step, and it’s been 16 years and 6 months since then. Time doesn’t hold us back, and the juniors here must surely remember that they are being pushed to the back in the silent passage of time. Time is like an express train on a long journey, and I have learned a lot in that time that passes quickly. Over 16 years, I’ve met countless clients in the field, some of them prominent people in society, some of them sitting in high places. I’ve also met people with disabilities and the elderly living alone. I’ve also seen the heartbreaking unevenness of the countryside, where people live without electricity or gas and struggle to make ends meet. I’ve learned many lessons and gained strength and gratitude for being able to put effort into my place and make it my home.
In a certain part of Southeast Asia, they have a unique way of catching monkeys. They put a banana in a box tied to a tree and cut a small hole in it, and the monkey sticks his hand through the small hole and grabs the banana and can’t get his hand out. When people come to catch the monkey, the monkey just jumps up and down, but he doesn’t let go of the banana. The monkey can get his hand out of the hole if he lets go of the banana, but he still gets caught. I’m like that monkey. After many years of complacency, it’s time for me to bury my head in the sand and let go of the heavy burdens of life. I’ve loved working with you, laughing, crying, and sharing life with you, but I can’t help but feel a bit sad that I’m being pushed into the void.
Life is about parting ways, and if you do part ways with me, please remember the good things about me. No matter when or where we meet, please remember me as someone you want to meet again, not someone you don’t want to meet again. I want you to remember me as someone you can shake hands with from a mile away.
If I have unintentionally caused you pain or distress during my time with the company, I apologize, and if I have caused misunderstandings or unintentional hurt through my flippant remarks, I hope you will understand and graciously forgive me for my shortcomings. I consider my meeting with you to be a once-in-a-lifetime relationship, and I will forever remember the time we spent together. I hope that the branch manager and my colleagues, who gave me the warm love and happiness that I lacked, will work together to shine as a good workplace and a united branch. Finally, I bow my head to you and thank you once again from the bottom of my heart, and wish you all good health and happiness.
Hospital Retirement Statement
Today, I am having my retirement ceremony, completing 25 years in our hospital. I had hoped to retire at the age of 60, but I decided to gradually reduce my workload, and I have continued to work until now. I have bid farewell to many employees over the years, and when I stand on the podium to say goodbye to myself, I feel a strange feeling that I have never felt before.
People often say that their life stories are dramatic, like a great novel. I’ve been thinking the same thing, in a somewhat cynical way. I’m going to share my honest reflections on reaching retirement age as a story of self-pity, a story of bragging, and a story of resolutions for the rest of my life.
I used to be very ashamed of the years that have passed, thinking I was living life to the fullest rather than trying to fill in the gaps, but now I’m grateful to be able to let go a little and laugh.
I am a very lucky person indeed. I don’t just say it in words, I feel it in my heart and live it like a firm belief. I’ve been blessed with an overwhelming amount of love from family, friends, and relatives, especially in the last three years, even during some very difficult, lonely, and challenging times. I’m grateful for their encouragement, which has allowed me to pick myself up when I was falling apart. I’m also grateful for the relationships I’ve made and try not to forget them, because they’ve taught me that the world looks different when you open your heart to others, even in the midst of everyday life.
From a young age, we’ve been taught that praising others is a virtue; if we praise ourselves, we’re seen as prideful, self-righteous, and immature. We’ve been indoctrinated with schoolboy manners, where the more we put ourselves down and are hard on ourselves, the more we’re seen as cultured, humble, and good people. This is especially true for our generation, especially those of us in our 60s.
But in the course of a long life, sometimes you need praise, encouragement, and tough love, even for yourself. For those of you who have ever cried inside, worried about your family with a generous laugh, and sang hope with desperation, I think you’ll agree with me. I want to age gracefully, with a dignity that doesn’t tempt me to self-deprecation, but I want to age gracefully with a heart to share, someone who is now a bit removed from the intensity of life, someone who doesn’t find it too much of a blemish if I give myself a little too much credit.
I believe that pride and confidence in oneself will be the fuel of life, and that it will lead to self-reflection. I believe that the ability to take charge of one’s life, to see the world through one’s own eyes, and to be generous with one’s heart and share with one’s neighbors will be possible only if one is able to love oneself first. I will not be a talkative 60-something who becomes self-absorbed and meddles in everything, but I will always be open and grateful. I will live in the generosity of sharing and contemplating life. I will honor and encourage myself for acting with a generous heart, and I will wish that I have clear, bright eyes to reprimand myself whenever I get lazy.
It’s time for me to slow down, to look at my feet, and to descend with reduced stride. I will rekindle the resolute commitment I made with trembling heart more than 40 years ago, and I will live with letting go, gratitude, and humility as my companions. Thank you, everyone.
Bittersweet retirement remarks
Good morning, and thank you to our employees for joining us today. I would like to thank my seniors, relatives, and friends for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend. I never realized how emotional it would be to leave a job of 32 years, and I’m so grateful to the people I’ve worked with over the years.
I am so grateful for the workplace I have worked in. It has rewarded me, nurtured my character, and given me happiness and a home. My memories of the past 35 years are like a movie, and the reason I’ve been able to have such a happy working life is because my predecessors have laid the groundwork for me with their sweat and hard work. If any of you have ever felt uncomfortable with me during our time together, I’m at fault, and I ask for your forgiveness after this time. I’m sure there were some things that happened in the course of our work that I wish the best for each other, and now that I think about it, there are some areas that I personally regret. Even though our retirement was decided when we joined the company, I think we may have neglected to prepare for the second act of our lives after retirement. I think it would be good for our juniors to prepare for the second act of their lives from now on and prepare in advance for the second act of their lives. I hope they don’t have to worry about what to do now, like I did.
I will not forget to thank you all for helping me to leave office in good health. I wish you all good health and good luck at home. It’s been a very happy time, and now I’m going to pack my bags and get on the next train. I’ll leave the happy memories behind, and if there are any memories that hurt me or caused me sadness, I’ll put them in my backpack. I will blow the bad memories away with the wind, keep the love and happiness you have given me in my heart, and carry the seeds of courage and passion with me to a new station. There will be rainy days, and there will be sunny days, and I promise that I will not be discouraged in any case, and I will conclude my farewell speech with this. Thank you.
