Workers That Took Back Control Share Their Career-Ending Texts (New Pics)

According to 2023 October statistics, a whopping 3,628,000 workers in the U.S. left their jobs. The most common way to announce their resignation was in person (76%). 23% did so by email and 10% by text message. 9% went as far as leaving a handwritten note.

When employees hand in their notice, it seems to be brief. 43% who quit in person talked for a few minutes, while 1 in 10 people who sent an email or text wrote just a few words. 

Interestingly enough, in the UK, people favored quitting in person less. Almost half (47%) have quit a job via text, email, call, or voicemail. The majority of them were younger folks (64%) aged 25-34. 

Even though resigning by text may be easier than having a face-to-face conversation, this doesn’t prevent people from ghosting their employers altogether. 29% of workers left work and never came back without saying a word. This is the second most common way to quit in the UK. Meanwhile, in the US, the no communication method comprised 19% of all quitting cases. 

However, therapist, career and life coach Helen Godfrey, and career coach Kacie Bail recommend against quitting over text.

"I would not recommend resigning over text because it would come across as unprofessional," says Godfrey.

"If you’re thinking about resigning over text, please consider writing an email instead since it is a more formal way to communicate such important news," adds Bail.

"Some potential consequences of resigning via text message include burning bridges with your employer, seeming unprofessional, and unintentionally conveying your resignation with a tone you didn’t intend," says Bail. "If your resignation message is seen as unprofessional or misunderstood, it may negatively affect your chances of securing a positive reference, a referral in the future, or returning to the company later."

However, despite this, there are still circumstances when resigning by text may be appropriate. One of them is feeling not safe with your manager, says Godfrey.

"In that case, I would recommend having a conversation with your human resources (HR) department. Otherwise, typically, you will want to give 2 weeks’ written notice. Written notice is a typed letter or email of resignation. You will generally want to have a conversation with your direct supervisor first and follow up with your written resignation letter after your conversation," she explains and notes that the letter should be gracious, as shown below.

"Thank you for the opportunity. Wishing you the best in your future endeavors.”

Handing in notice via email may also be fitting if the manager is not available for an in-person meeting or a call in a timely manner, says Bail.

"If you’re trying to give 2 weeks' notice and your manager says the next available time they can meet in person is 2 weeks from now, I would recommend calling them or emailing them to give them adequate notice," she says.

As a last last resort, like in the case of family emergencies or other extreme cases such as those mentioned above, Godfrey proposes to formulate the text like this:

"Thank you for the opportunity to work at ABC company. Due to personal reasons, I will not be able to return to work, effective immediately. Thank you for understanding.”

"Depending on your relationship with your manager, you may choose to share more details and you may even be able to negotiate some flexibility instead of resigning," she notes.