Trailblazer Personalized Compass
$54.99A working solid brass compass with a chain and leather pouch, engraved with your own message in one of twelve fonts. About two inches across.
Says 'good luck out there' so you do not have to
See the details
Occasions
Interests
Accessories
Man Cave
Going Away Gifts for Coworkers: 20 Farewell Ideas for Men
Buying a going away gift for a coworker is a strange assignment. You need something personal enough to mean it, neutral enough for an office, and cheap enough that nobody feels awkward, and you usually have about four days to sort it.
This is a men's gift shop, so everything below is picked for a male coworker or colleague, and it is organized the way these actually get bought: by what you can spend, and by how well you knew him.
Short answer: if you are buying on your own, spend $25 to $50 on something personalized that lives on a desk or in a bag. The Tactical Pen Multi-Tool at $29.99 and the Leather Valet Tray at $44.99 work no matter how close you were. If the team is chipping in, $10 to $20 a head gets you to the engraved keepsake box everyone can sign inside.
Best Going Away Gifts for a Male Coworker
These six cover the widest range of working relationships. Every one is personalized, because a farewell gift with his name on it is the difference between a gift and an item, and none of them require you to know anything private about him.
Valet Personalized Men's Organizer Box
$49.99A faux leather valet box with a clear glass lid, a dedicated watch slot and a sunglasses slot, plus compartments for cufflinks and small everyday carry. Four engraving design options.
Lands well for a boss or a mentor
See the details
Tactical Pen Multi-Tool | 9-in-1 Personalized EDC Pen
$29.99Nine tools in one aircraft-grade aluminum pen with tungsten steel components, laser engraved with his name. It writes like a normal pen and lives in a laptop bag.
Best desk gift under $30
See the details
Voyager Personalized Canvas Backpack
$74.99A cotton canvas backpack with leather accents whose padded straps hide away so it converts to a duffel. Multiple zippered pockets, embroidered with up to three initials in your choice of thread color.
For the one starting a new commute
See the details
Leather Valet Tray
$44.99Handmade split leather, 7 by 7 inches, personalized with his initials. It catches keys, coins and a badge at the end of the day, on a desk or an entryway table.
The safe pick when you do not know him well
See the details
Personalized Men's Wooden Keepsake Box
$44.99A handcrafted wooden box engraved inside and out, in three wood finishes. The inside engraving is where a whole team can sign off without anyone needing a card.
The group-gift favorite, and our best seller of the set
See the detailsGoing Away Gifts by Budget
Office gifting has unwritten price rules and breaking them upward is as awkward as breaking them downward. Here is the honest version of what each band buys.
| What you are spending | Who this is | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Under $25 | Buying solo, worked with him occasionally | A monogrammed leather journal at $21.99, a decanter set at $19.99, or a leather sunglasses strap at $16.99. Personalized still beats generic here. |
| $25 to $50 | Buying solo, worked together directly | The normal band. Engraved drinkware, the tactical pen, the valet tray, the canvas toiletry bag. A personalized wood watch also sits here at $49.99. |
| $50 to $100 | A small team going in together | Six people at $15 each. The leather dopp kit, the golf set, or the decanter box set that presents well when handed over. |
| $100 and up | A whole department, or a boss leaving | The Workhorse Weekender at $124.99, or the marble charcuterie set at $99.99 paired with a card everyone signs. |
Under $50, in more detail
Leather Glasses Holders
$16.99A leather retainer strap that keeps his sunglasses around his neck instead of lost, engraved with a name and available in two colors. Small, cheap, and genuinely used.
The under-$20 desk-drawer gift
See the details
Crown Reserve Personalized Whiskey Decanter Set
$19.99A 25oz lead-free decanter with two 8oz rocks glasses, engraved with his monogram, name or initials. You can order the full set, the decanter alone, or just the glasses.
Looks like you spent three times this
See the details
Personalized Leather Journal
$21.99A handcrafted leather journal in three colors, monogrammed on the cover. Good for the coworker who still takes notes by hand in meetings.
Cheapest way to make it feel personal
See the details
Snapshot Personalized Photo Beer Glass
$29.99Any photo laser engraved onto a standard 16oz pint glass, with an optional name or short message underneath, up to 20 characters.
The one that gets a laugh and still gets kept
See the details
Custom Photo Whiskey Glass
$29.99Send a photo and it is etched permanently into a heavy 10oz rocks glass, with a name underneath. It survives the dishwasher, which matters more than it sounds for something meant to last.
For the team photo nobody wants to forget
See the details
Personalized Canvas Travel Toiletry Bag
$39.99A rugged canvas wash bag in four colors with sixteen thread colors for the monogram. Spacious main compartment, built for business travel and gym bags.
Right gift if he is relocating
See the details$50 and up, for group gifts
Personalized Leather Travel Dopp Kit
$59.99Full-grain leather with brass hardware and a water-resistant nylon lining, 9 by 5 by 4.5 inches so it works as carry-on or on a countertop. Embroidered with his initials in your choice of font color.
The step up from canvas
See the details
Hole in One Personalized Golf Gift Set
$64.99A leatherette storage box, insulated stainless tumbler, tri-fold golf towel with carabiner and a magnetic divot tool, with his name laser engraved on every piece. Four towel colors.
For the coworker whose out-of-office was always a Friday
See the details
Heritage Reserve Personalized Decanter Box Set
$89.99A heavy decanter and prism glasses engraved with his name, arriving in a pine gift box. The box is the reason this one works as a send-off in front of a room.
Best gift to hand over in person
See the details
Gathering Board Personalized Marble Charcuterie Set
$99.99White marble paired with acacia wood, with three bowls, three dipping spoons and four cheese knives. Laser engraved with whatever you want on it.
The one for a team to go in on together
See the details
Workhorse Personalized Weekender Bag
$124.99A canvas and leather weekender in four bag colors with sixteen thread colors, embroidered with his initials. This is the whole-department gift.
The one he takes to the new job
See the detailsWho Is Leaving Changes the Gift
The single most common mistake is buying for the wrong relationship. A gift that is perfect from a close teammate is uncomfortable from someone two desks away.
Your boss or a mentor
Go more formal and let the team fund it, so it reads as being from the group rather than as one person angling for a reference. Engrave a date or the years he was there. The valet organizer and the decanter box set both suit this.
A teammate you actually know
This is the only case where an inside joke works. The photo pint glass takes a nickname underneath, which is exactly the gift that gets a laugh in the room and then gets kept.
Someone you barely worked with
Neutral and personal. A valet tray or a journal with his initials is thoughtful without claiming a closeness that was not there. Do not attempt humor here.
He is relocating, not just changing jobs
Give him something that travels and weighs little. The canvas toiletry bag, the Gentleman's toiletry bag or the convertible backpack. He is about to pack a house, so bulky is a burden.
A remote coworker you have never met
Ship it to him directly and keep it flat and unbreakable. A journal, a leather strap, a pen. Ask a manager for the address rather than asking him, so it stays a surprise.
He is retiring, not moving on
Different gift entirely, because it marks a career rather than a move. Our retirement gifts for men and golf retirement gifts are built for that, and the engraved decanter is the classic.
How to Run a Group Gift Without It Falling Apart
Most farewell gifts are group gifts, and most group gifts go wrong in the same four ways. This takes about fifteen minutes if you do it in this order.
- Set the per-head number first, then pick the gift. Picking the gift first means chasing people for whatever is left over. Say "$15 each" up front and people can opt out quietly.
- Give a deadline two days before you need it. Personalization takes time and someone always pays late. Order once you have enough, not once you have everyone.
- Let people opt out silently. One person collects, nobody publishes who paid what. Someone on the team is having a tight month and should not have to say so.
- Get the engraving details from someone who knows. Check the spelling of his name and any dates with a manager, not by asking him. An engraved typo cannot be fixed.
- Buy the card separately and start it early. The signatures take longer to collect than the gift takes to arrive. A keepsake box you can sign inside solves both at once.
Going Away Gift Etiquette
Match the workplace, not your taste. A joke gift that works in a warehouse team lands badly in a law firm. If you are unsure which one you are in, you are in the formal one.
Personalize the safe part. Initials, a name, a date, the years he worked there. Those are personal without being private. Avoid anything referencing his family, his politics or his appearance.
Do not out-spend the group. Handing over something noticeably expensive on your own can put him in an awkward position on his last day and can read as a statement to everyone else.
Give it before the last day, not on it. Last days are meetings, handovers and a laptop return. Give it the afternoon before, when there is time to actually look at it.
Say what it is for. Thirty seconds out loud beats a card nobody reads. Name one specific thing he did, not a general sentiment.
Skip anything perishable, scented or sized. Food goes stale in a car, fragrance is personal, and clothing sizing is a guess you will lose.
What to Write in a Farewell Card
The hardest part is usually not the gift. Two rules make it easy: name a specific thing, and do not pretend you were closer than you were.
If you worked closely: name the project or the moment. "Thanks for covering the Q3 launch when it all went sideways. Not the same here without you." Specific beats warm.
If you did not: keep it short and genuine. "Always appreciated how you handled the Monday calls. Good luck with what's next." Short is not cold.
If he is retiring: mark the length of it. "Thirty-one years. Enjoy every bit of this." Do not joke about age.
Never write: anything about the company being the reason he is going, anything about who is taking over his work, or an inside joke that half the signers will not understand.
Going Away Gifts for Coworkers FAQ
What is a good going away gift for a male coworker?
Something personalized that fits on a desk or in a bag, in the $25 to $50 range if you are buying alone. The Tactical Pen Multi-Tool at $29.99 and the Leather Valet Tray at $44.99 are the two that work regardless of how well you know him. Avoid anything sized like clothing, anything scented, and anything that reads as a private joke to people who were not there.
How much should you spend on a farewell gift for a colleague?
Buying alone, $20 to $50 is the normal band and nobody thinks less of $20 if it is personalized. In a group, $10 to $20 a head is standard, which puts a team of six between $60 and $120. Spending a lot alone can be awkward: it puts the person in your debt on their way out the door, and it can read oddly to the rest of the team.
Should you get a gift for a coworker who is leaving?
If you worked with them directly, yes, and a group gift is the easier route. If the whole team is chipping in, one contribution covers you and you do not need a second gift of your own. If you barely worked with them, a signed card is genuinely enough and no one expects more.
What do you give a coworker who is relocating rather than changing jobs?
Something that travels. A Personalized Canvas Travel Toiletry Bag at $39.99 or the Workhorse Weekender Bag at $124.99 both earn their space in a car or a suitcase. Skip anything heavy, fragile or bulky, because they are about to pack everything they own.
What is a good farewell gift for a male boss or mentor?
Go slightly more formal and let the team fund it. The Valet Organizer Box at $49.99 and the Heritage Reserve Decanter Box Set at $89.99 both present well when handed over in front of a room. Engraving a date or the years they were there does more work than any message you could write.
How long does personalization take if the last day is this week?
Most personalized orders leave our shop within one to two business days, then normal transit applies. If the send-off is inside a week, order at the start of it. If you have left it later than that, buy the card and hand over a printed photo of what is coming, which is a normal thing to do and better than arriving empty-handed.
Timing: everything here is personalized after you order. Most orders leave our shop within one to two business days, then normal transit applies. If the send-off is inside a week, order at the start of it.
Keep Exploring
Co-Founder
About the Author
Melissa Bajda
Co-Founder, Groovy Girl Gifts · Monroe, Connecticut
200,000+ gifts17,000+ reviewsMom of two
Melissa Bajda is the co-founder of Groovy Girl Gifts and part of the family behind Groovy Guy Gifts, personalization studios based in Monroe, Connecticut. A mom of two, she blends trend-spotting from shows like NY NOW with the real question every gift-giver asks: will they actually treasure this? She has spent more than a decade helping people turn a name, a date, or an inside joke into a gift that gets remembered.
20 Military Retirement Party Favors to Honor Their Service in Style
Celebrate service with unique Military Retirement Party Favors! Discover thoughtful, patriotic, and memorable keepsakes to honor a veteran’s special day.
Read more ›
12 Memorable Army Retirement Party Ideas to Celebrate a Hero’s Journey
Celebrate a hero’s service with these creative Army retirement party ideas—perfect for honoring military careers with pride, fun, and unforgettable...
Read more ›
14 Memorable Military Retirement Party Ideas to Honor Their Service
Celebrate a service member’s next chapter with these 14 military retirement party ideas—honoring their career with meaningful, fun, and memorable...
Read more ›