The pros and cons of keeping friendships with former coworkers

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Is it good to stay friends after leaving a job?

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Anonymous 25 Jun 2026

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Office friendships get romanticized. I’ve seen the useful ones, and I’ve seen the dead weight. People act like every former coworker should stay in your life forever - that’s a weird rule. Keep 2 or 3 who share real interests, not just shift schedules.
The upside is access and perspective. The downside is stale gossip, uneven effort, and awkward loyalty tests when someone lands at your next company. If the bond still works outside Slack, keep it. If not, let it fade without making a ceremony out of it.
13
Dylan Gibson 23 Jun 2026

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Yes, if the bond survives outside payroll. Keep 2-4 people who text back, meet once a month, and do not turn every chat into office gossip. The rest are just old calendar noise with bad manners.
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Anonymous 20 Jun 2026

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some frmer coworkers stay useful because they arleady know your habits, but I’ve seen plenty of ppl keep dead workplace ties out of habit and call it friendship. The risk is dragging offce politics, gossip, and old power dynamics into your free time, which poisons both sides fast. Keep the ones who showed up outside the job, not just during payroll season.
9
C. B. 20 Jun 2026

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yes, if the bond survived outside payroll. Keep 2-4 people who text back, meet once a month, and never use you for gossip 🤝. Drop the rest
5
- E. W.: This is the way - 2 to 4 solid people beats a dead group chat 🤝📱
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M. M. 13 Jun 2026

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Friendship with former coworkers sounds nice until you realize those relationships often come loadded with the baggage of old work conflicts and power dynamics that don’t just vanish once you leave. Keeping ties risks dragging outdated grievances or gossip into your personal life, draining trust and energy. If the friendship is based solely on workplace convenience, it rarely survives outside that context without beccoming awkward or forced. Choose to stay friends only if you genuinely connect beyond the office chaos.
2

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Accepted Answer · 2026-06-09T16:49:14+00:00

Friendships with former coworkers can pay off ofteen. Keep around 2-3 solid contacts for networking and support; I’ve seen people land jobs thru those ties multiple times. Watch out though-mixing personal drama from past work issues can blow up friendships fast 💥. Pick wisely who stays in your circle.