SINGAPORE: An employee who decided to leave his current company took to an online forum on Wednesday (Feb 26) to share his sentiments over his nice boss “suddenly” being indifferent during his resignation notice period. “I may be a sentimental person,” he said. “It is just a job, but I still can’t help feeling hurt when your nice boss ‘suddenly’ treats you indifferently during the notice period. Mind sharing how you cope with the double standard?”
In a show of support, many online users responded to the post with messages of encouragement. Others shared their own similar experiences. Several comments echoed the advice to maintain professionalism until the last working day and not overthink the shift in treatment. Many also expressed scepticism about forming genuine friendships at work, emphasizing that career progression and self-interest often dictate workplace interactions. Despite these challenges, users encouraged the original poster to focus on moving forward without burning bridges, as professional references may still be needed in the future.
“I actually had a (mean) boss that became nicer,” shared one. “Either way, once you’re going to leave, don’t look back, but don’t burn bridges either–you never know when you need their reference.”
“I have a colleague who treated me normally and subsequently well,” shared another. “Turns out, she needed someone to replace her post so she could transfer out, and I was the chosen one, but after I found a new job and tendered, she treated me so coldly that I actually felt disgusted about work politics but glad that I never regarded them as friends. Because people are always saying that it is possible to make friends at work, there is no way this will ever happen. Because everyone cares more about their self-interest than anything else as long progression is on the line.”
A third left the writer with simple advice, saying, “Don’t think too much. Work professionally until your exit. Your boss is sweating (trying to) find a replacement and (thinking of) training them again. This takes energy away from real business making.”
Still, one commenter saw things in a different light. “It could be worse; both hostile or overly sweet are bad. I believe treating you indifferently during the notice period is the best thing,” he wrote, sharing a similar experience. “I got the same treatment during my last resignation. I no longer got new projects, and I had to finalize all in-hand projects and provide documentation for all my projects. It was a two-month period, so I cleared everything by the fifth week. The last three weeks were browsing Reddit, buying things online, playing games on mobile, helping other coworkers or making fancy snacks in the office because I was bored.”