19 leaving gifts for a colleague, sorted by where they go next

The farewell lunch is booked for their last Friday: a long table at the place around the corner, the one the team has walked to for years. Someone has started a collection. Nobody has decided yet what it will buy.

A farewell gift for a coworker has two jobs. The small one is to be useful in whatever comes next. The bigger one is to tell them, before they walk out the door, what they meant to the people they worked beside. The gifts that do both are usually one gift from the whole team, chosen for where they are going, with real words from everyone attached.

Below are 19 ideas, sorted by where they are going next, then a fair way to collect and what to do when the person leaving works from home.

What makes a good farewell gift for a coworker?

Three things, in this order:

• It comes from the team. One gift with everyone's name on it is fairer on budgets and easier to carry home than ten small ones.
• It fits where they are going. A new job, a new city, parental leave or a long break each call for something different.
• It carries words. The voucher gets spent. A line about the thing they did that nobody else noticed gets kept.

Which gifts carry words from the whole team?

1. A farewell film from everyone. Send one link in the team chat two weeks before the last day if you can, and a week at the least. Each person records a minute on their phone, with no app and no account, including the colleague on night shift and the one in the Brisbane office. Warmcut trims the pauses, levels every voice, puts the messages in story order and adds music and captions, so nobody edits anything. Collecting messages and watching the finished film is free, with a small Warmcut watermark. Pay once, from US$19, to share and download it. Over 10 people? The free film uses the first 10 to record, and paying makes it with everyone. Play it at the farewell lunch, or send it on their last morning if they would rather watch it alone. The full plan is in how to make a group video.

2. A card that says something. Start it early, so it reaches every shift and every office, and write a prompt inside the cover: "One thing I'll miss about working with you." A prompt is the difference between twenty versions of "Good luck" and twenty real lines.

3. A book of letters. One page from each person, printed and bound, to keep long after the last day.

4. A written recommendation. If you managed them or worked closely with them, write a recommendation they can use: on their professional profile, or as a reference letter they keep on file. It costs nothing and helps them for years.

What should you give for a new job, a move or leave?

Ask a close work friend, quietly, what comes next for them. Then choose for that.

5. A new job: something for the first day. A good bag or laptop sleeve, a quality notebook and pen, or an insulated cup for the new commute. Useful, and a small reminder of the old team on day one.

6. A new job: a plant for the new desk. Something hard to kill, like a spider plant or a ZZ plant, in a good pot small enough to carry home on the train. Tie on a tag with the team's names. If they kept a plant on their old desk, repot it properly and send it home with them too.

7. Their own business: a list of introductions. If they are leaving to work for themselves, the most useful thing the team can give is a start. Ask each person for one contact from their own network who could use what they do, and hand over the list on the last day. Wrap a good book on running a small business with it.

8. A job across town: lunch at the team's usual place. Book it for their last week and pay for their meal from the collection. For many people, the lunch is the gift. Add a voucher for the café the team walks to every morning, so they have a reason to come back.

9. A move to another city: the team's guide to it. A guidebook to the new city, with a page of tips from anyone in the team who has lived there: a good bakery, a quiet swimming spot, the suburb to look at first. If you add a voucher, check it works there before you buy.

10. A move overseas: something that packs flat. A team photo in a light frame, with everyone's name and the date on the back.

11. Parental leave: meals. A meal delivery voucher, or a roster of home-cooked meals from people who live nearby, left at the door in the first weeks.

12. Study or a long break: the thing they keep mentioning. A bookshop voucher, a class they have talked about, a pass for the pool near their home, or the concert or round of golf they keep saying they will get to one day.

13. Any next step: a donation in their name. To a cause they care about, with a card that says where it went.

If they are retiring after many years, the list is different. For that, see these sentimental retirement gift ideas.

Should you give a leaving gift for a colleague on your own?

If the team is already collecting, you do not need to give anything else. If you were close, one small thing on the last day is plenty.

14. A handwritten note. One memory and one wish. It takes two minutes to write, and it is often the thing they keep.

15. A book you think they would love. With a line inside about why you chose it.

16. Their coffee order on the last morning. Waiting on the desk when they arrive. Small, and they will notice.

What farewell gifts reach a remote coworker?

In August 2025, 36% of employed Australians usually worked from home, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. So the colleague who is leaving may be someone half the team knows mostly from a screen. The gift still has to reach them.

17. Lunch for the farewell call. Book a 30-minute video call in their last week and send a food delivery or café voucher, so they can order lunch while the team says goodbye. Check their time zone before you pick the hour.

18. A box posted to their door. The card from the team, something from the office's city, and one thing for what comes next. Post it at least a week before the last day. Ask them or HR for the address rather than guessing. If it is going overseas, choose things that travel well, like a book. Food can be held up at customs.

19. A digital gift card that works where they live. Check the shop or service operates in their state or country before you buy. A voucher they cannot use is a chore, not a gift.

The film in idea 1 suits remote teams well: everyone records from their own desk or kitchen, and nobody has to be online at the same time. If you want it to stay a surprise, here is how to collect video messages without them finding out.

How much should everyone chip in, and how do you collect it?

There is no set amount. Make it optional, keep it small, and say any amount is welcome, including nothing. If people ask for a guide, give a small amount as a suggestion, not a rule. At about $10 each, for example, the total still adds up:

A few things keep it fair and calm:

• Start the day the news is out. In Australia, the notice someone gives is set by their award, agreement or contract. Under many awards it is between one and four weeks, depending on how long they have worked there, and casual staff do not have to give notice at all. You may only have days.
• Ask whether the business contributes. Some workplaces have a farewell budget. Your manager will know.
• Include everyone. Part-timers, other shifts, people working from home, people on leave, and former teammates who would want to be asked.
• Keep amounts private. Never list who gave what, or who did not.
• Send one reminder, then close. Set the closing day two days before their last day, so there is time to buy and wrap.
• If they leave in December, give the farewell its own moment. Folded into the Christmas party, it can get lost.

A message you can copy, sent in a chat or email without them in it:

What should you write with the gift?

The words are the part they will read again. For a simple shape, and lines for every kind of colleague, see what to write in a farewell message for a coworker. A few to start from:

• "Thank you for every time you said 'send it to me, I'll have a look'. The whole team leaned on that."
• "I still set up a project the way you showed me in my first month."
• "You always noticed when someone was struggling, and quietly helped. I hope the new place looks after you as well as you looked after us."
• "Send us a photo from the new place, and come back for Friday lunch whenever you're in town."
• "No emails, no deadlines. Enjoy these first months, and we'll be here when you're ready."

Which leaving gifts should you skip?

• Company merchandise. They are leaving the company. Give them something about them.
• Jokes about why they are leaving. Even kind ones can sting, and their manager may be in the room.
• Anything big for someone moving overseas. It will not fit in the suitcase.
• Alcohol, unless you know they drink.
• Clothes, perfume or anything too personal from a group of coworkers.
• A gift bigger than the relationship. A large collection for someone the team barely knew can feel awkward for everyone, including them.

Whatever you choose, put the words first. The farewell film page shows the questions people answer when they record, which work just as well in a card.