Fired from job, should I try to contact friends at work to say goodbye?

Question

I was fired from my job at work yesterday. In fact the boss met me in my office and escorted me out of the office before I could even say good bye. I had been working there for years and had made lots of friends.

What is the polite thing to do? Should I send a email to all my friends in the office saying good bye? Should I come by the office and walk around and say good bye? Should I call them on the phone?

Or should I move on and forget about these people and think more about finding a new job.

(Maybe my so called old friends in the office really do not feel like Friends anymore and do not want to be connected with me because I was fired)

Answer 1

Using your personal email, send a brief email note to your coworkers.

Let them know you enjoyed working with them, and note how they can contact you.  If they're your friends, how you left the company is not an issue.

I would avoid going back to your office.

Best of luck.

Answer 2

I'd send them an e-mail and see what happens.  If they want to meet up with you in the future for drinks/dinner, then I'm sure they will, regardless of whether you still work there.

However, all that depends on what you were fired for I suppose.  If it was something that was perhaps a bit underhand then they might not be particularly friendly.  However, if it was something that wasn't really anything to do with someone else there, then I can't see why they wouldn't keep in touch.

I know places will often escort you from the building when you leave (for any reason, even for a new job), so I'm not reading too much into that, but I do think it depends on why you were fired.

Answer 3

Wow -- that must have been a terrible blow.  Sorry to hear about you being fired, and escorted out of the office no less.  Wow.

To answer your question based on what you have described, going back to say goodbye is really not an option.  Doubt your work friends (or the boss!) would appreciate being called or emailed at the office, either.  

Perhaps you could send each one a card, tell them under the circumstances you weren't given the opportunity to say goodbye, that you appreciate their friendship and hope to see them again in the future.

Then, move on to your next job where you will probably make new friends.

Best wishes.

Answer 4

Usually people establish relatively few close connections in office situations.  You would now who those people are or at least the ones you think were close  2 - 4 - 6 people maybe, depending on the size of the office.  Contact those folks individually and ask to get together for coffee, lunch or maybe shopping or even ask them to drop by.  Steer clear of office gossip at least in the first couple of visits and certainly offer nothing more than an objective statement about the boss and the firing even if you are real upset.  As for the others, I like the idea of an email saying great spending time with you, mention one or two personal things about that person, or memories from work and leave an open invitation for them to call to get together.

Good Luck

Answer 5

I think that email is probably best. If you were escorted out of the office by your boss I'm pretty sure they might cause a fuss if you go back there.  

Answer 6

Why not send out a formal e-mail saying thank you for all the time we have spent together and you look forward to keeping in touch and working with them again in the future if the opportunity arises. I wouldn't necessarily go into the office if tensions are thick with your boss right now. After all, you should be focusing on the future not the past. If you send out an e-mail maybe one of them knows of job openings at another company too. You never know... just because you aren't working there anymore don't shut off that network of your life completely.  

Answer 7

I'm sorry to hear that you were fired from your job.

What you do in this situation depends on a couple of things.  Do your colleagues know why you were fired?  The reason you were fired is also significant.  Only you know the answers to the these questions (please note: I'm not asking you to reveal these details on Answers as that is private information).

I think you should make a list of the people who you were really friendly with in the office.  Then send them each an individual card stating your goodbye's and possibly inviting them to meet for a coffee at some point etc.

I definitely wouldn't recommend that you visit the office, especially as you were escorted out on your last day.  If you did then your boss might call security and have you escorted out again, which could prove embarrassing for you.

I wouldn't recommend that you e-mail them either because some workplaces (secretly) monitor the e-mail that their workers receive.  If this is the case in your former workplace, then this could put your former workmates in a sticky situation.  A card in a sealed envelope is safer.

I wish you all the best with finding a new job.