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Welcome Wednesday: Friends with past coworkers?

Dave LIAO

🎉 Hi there, community!

It's time for another Welcome Wednesday, a chance to participate on the Community forums on topics that aren't necessarily Atlassian-related. (See past Welcome Wednesdays here, and join in the conversation!)

For this week, I have a question about community - your friend community. Specifically, past coworkers!

Are you friends with past coworkers? Why - or why not?

Looking forward to your responses! And if it's getting warm where you are, hope you're staying cool. 🧊🍧

Comments

Matt Doar _Adaptavist_

Sure, yes, in general. There are a few colleagues I'd like to connect with on LinkedIn, just to make sure I don't work with them again, but it's not intended to be used that way :P

But I think my closest friendships come from when families grow up together, either as children or as adults

Matt Raney

I had to laugh at the LinkedIn part! 😄 We all have a few coworkers we'd rather not work with again. I agree with you, though—some of the strongest and longest-lasting friendships are the ones that grow through shared life experiences and family connections. Those are truly special. 😊

Natalie Beiler

Indeed I do stay connected with many past coworkers. I have had the privilege to work with some amazing people over the past 40+ years. My coworkers often became dear friends as we worked together. Those were the days of going into the "office" and laboring together over many, many challenges in healthcare and healthcare IT.

From my clinical days we laughed and cried as we saw life begin and end together while trying to maintain family life outside of the long shifts, on-call rotations, and staffing shortages.

From my IT days we built new facilities, installed new hardware and software, manually changed backup tapes, rebooted servers from a console in the server room, deployed devices for hundreds of end users, fixed jammed printers, remediated virus mayhem when someone in the C-Suite clicked on an email that released a lethal bug that spread like melting butter in a hot skillet...need I say more?

I find great joy in staying connected to people I share history with regardless of how long we labored together.

Thanks for the discussion topic @Dave LIAO

Arkadiusz Wroblewski

Hi @Dave LIAO and all,

Thanks for giving food for thought.

I tell you, the older I get, the more I will say that the truth lies in the middle.

With some, I'm still friends. With others, it hasn't sustained time, and we people tend to just at some point concentrate on ourselves and our lives and close some parts of our lives.

I'll tell you one thing I learned years ago: People who want to be present in your life, or you in theirs, will stay. The rest will go. That's how life is.

Anahit Sukiasyan

This is giving a shout-out to my favorite ex-coworker, @Arpi Kizogyan 💙

Jobs may change, but some coworkers are simply too good to leave behind!! 😍

zoltanersek _outpostlabs_dev_

I'm actually good friends with past coworkers, however I see a trend, my past coworker friends are all from the beginning of my career.

Brita Moorus

I'm still friends with colleagues from my previous companies and I'm really grateful for that 🧡

From one company, we still go on an annual ski trip together, and we meet up for dinners or board game nights every now and then ⛷️🧩

From another, we still have regular dinners, poker evenings, and celebrate birthdays together 🍕♣️

It's nice when work friendships continue long after you've changed jobs. Some of those people have become lifelong friends 😊 💙

Brita Moorus

Very true. The people who genuinely value the connection usually find a way to stay in touch, even when life gets busy or circumstances change 😊

Brita Moorus

The LinkedIn part made me laugh 😄 We probably all have at least one connection saved for exactly that reason!

Carsten Severin _KUMAVISION AG_

Of course, I still stay in touch with some former colleagues. I firmly believe that professional and personal relationships can be separated—and sometimes professional connections grow into lasting friendships.

A great example is a former apprentice whom I supported throughout his studies, including some challenging project management certifications. We still meet regularly today, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to watch his journey.

I’m proud to have been part of people’s development for a chapter of their lives and careers. Seeing them continue to grow and succeed is inspiring, and I’m grateful if I may have contributed even a small part to that success.

Ivica Prvanovic

Yes, I am! I actually have a lot of my past and present coworkers on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. We still stay in touch regularly through social media. I think working together is a great way to meet like-minded people, so I always try to keep those friendships alive even after we move on to different jobs.

Barbara Szczesniak

I spent much of my career as a contractor, so I often wasn't at a job long enough to make friends that would last. Adding that many of my job changes have involved moving to a different state or country, so we might keep in touch for a few years, but eventually life happens and we lose track of each other.

Anne Saunders

My partner and I have been together for just over 6 years. We met at a job where we worked together for about a year before he got a better offer from another firm. So, um, yes.

I'm also friends with a handful of other people I've worked with over the years, but only the ones I would have been friends with anyway if we'd met under other circumstances.

Amanda Barber

I'm friends with a number of my former teaching colleagues, but have had a harder time maintaining "friendships" from my remote roles over the last 6 years. I have a few people I've kept in touch with, a few I've followed to new jobs, and a bunch more I stay connected with on LinkedIn in hopes of working together again!

Galen Garrison

I am friends with 2 former co-workers. Even though we all left our former employer, we remain friends a decade later and get together for dinner monthly.

Reiner

I'm the godfather of a coworker's son, so I've been in regular contact with him for more than 10 years.

Anwesha

Omg @Matt Doar _Adaptavist_ 🤣 I was reading your comment so seriously but you caught us all 🤣🤣

Anwesha

Have a very few co-workers from previous projects who are good friends now 😊

and I agree to what @Arkadiusz Wroblewski and @Brita Moorus said that people will stay in touch or vice versa if they are meant to stay.

Brita Moorus

🧡

Dave LIAO

@zoltanersek _outpostlabs_dev_ - YES!

The earlier the job, the more friends (and better friends) that I am with the previous coworkers.

Thankfully there are exceptions even in my recent jobs. I think that since my more recent jobs have been remote first or hybrid made it more of a challenge to make a social connection with coworkers.

Dave LIAO

Yes! That big event from 2020 definitely screwed with a number of my relationships - not just with past colleagues. 😭😂

This year has been fun, I got to reconnect with folks that I haven't talked to since 2019 🙌

Dave LIAO

@Reiner - Whoa, that's awesome!

I don't think I'm the godfather of anyone's kids. 😂 Nor would I recommend it, I'm too busy being the godfather of Jira sites.

zoltanersek _outpostlabs_dev_

yeah, I agree, remote made it way harder, and it's already been like 6 years from when things started moving to remote

but I guess, it's easier to make friends when you're younger as well

Jousef

I think finding friendship at work is as valid and important as outside of work. Sure, you want to have a clear line between your work life and your personal life. However, you spent 8 hours a day with some of the people and if that person is a cool dude or dudette, why not?

I have found friends for life at the workplace. People I truly trust with my innermost thoughts and troubles. I have found friends to travel with. I have found love too. So all of that can exist and I think it's totally natural.

There is a place where work life and personal life can intersect and that's how it should be. Not by bringing your actual work home. It's the people we should have a connection with.

Anne Saunders

I was my partner's PM at work - I tell people he liked me bossing him around at work so much that he wanted me to do it at home, too

Dave LIAO

@Natalie Beiler - YES! Literally working in the trenches often forges bonds beyond the workplace. 🔗

The time I spent working in physical offices gives me an appreciation for working in virtual one. 🙃

Dave LIAO

@Arkadiusz Wroblewski - I appreciate anyone who tries to reconnect with me, even if it's years later. That whole thing that happened in 2020 underscores how fleeting our relationships are, and how much work needs to be put into them to make them work.

Dave LIAO

Love this!

I have too many ex-coworkers to declare one as my favorite... 🤩

Dave LIAO

@Anne Saunders - that's awesome 🤣

@Jousef - agreed!

Dave LIAO

Love this, rituals like a monthly dinner are important!

Speaking of rituals: I find birthdays to be the perfect reason to get together with former coworkers (the ones I count as friends, of course). 🙌

Dave LIAO

The longer I work in this industry, the more I try to recruit (qualified) accomplices from past jobs into my current gigs.

Having a built-in rapport with a past teammate, and an understanding of where they can help you is SO useful when faced with interesting IT challenges.

Dave LIAO

@Anne Saunders - yeah, working at the same place isn't guaranteed friendship for me, but it does help provide the introduction!

Love that you made that connection in your life! 🔗

Dave LIAO

Social media is definitely an entertaining way to get insights into your coworkers, past and present. Even on LinkedIn! 🤣

Dave LIAO

@Carsten Severin _KUMAVISION AG_ - A few of my mentees have become lifelong friends - I can only hope more folks can be lucky enough to have this happen for themselves!

Dave LIAO

@Brita Moorus - one aspect I love about having work friendships is running into these friends at conferences.

Connections make the world go 'round!

Jousef

@Anne Saunders Hahahhaa, sometimes it's like that

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