Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Farewell lunch

A co-worker is leaving the agency so we went out for lunch together. He paid for the apéro, and each of us paid for the rest of the meal. This got me realized how different a farewell lunch is in France compared to Malaysia and US. I told him that he is not lucky as in these countries either the coworkers or the bosses will pay for the lunch.

When I left my company in Malaysia, my boss actually paid for a buffet meal in a private club! The food was so delicious there. When I left my company in Austin, the department paid for the meal for everyone who attended the farewell lunch plus a souvenir.

In France, depending on the sector, companies usually don't have much budget for social interaction activities between the employees. Sometime we get some champagne and appetizers when there are something to celebrate. The company committee will organize some get together events but not as often as what I had experienced in US.

Another common way of saying goodbye is to bring in some breakfast and ask everyone to pass by. Still the leaving person will pay for everything. On the other hand, I found it make a of sense as those leaving usually have already found other assignments or will leave the company for good. He or she will face other exciting challenges well those who stay will have to suck it up and go back to the same old same old work routine. Why should companies invest on people who are leaving them anyway?

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:54 AM

    huh? that's a bad deal!

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  2. Same in Germany too!

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  3. Hi! Just popped by by chance!! From the land of Moos AKA Swissyland.

    I think its the same office culture here in Moo Moo land. Except if you work with an American co. Stop by my bog sometime!

    BTW my hubby is French too!! ;)

    ReplyDelete