So imagine my surprise and borderline suspicion when an old blog post of mine about exit interviews and the general futility of “constructive feedback” suddenly starts trending like it just dropped yesterday with a Beyoncé album.

Exit interviews.
Of all things.

Not love. Not purpose. Not “how to find yourself in Tuscany” (actually I’ve never written about that and probably never will).
Exit interviews.

And I thought to myself Wmwhat is happening in the world that we are collectively circling back to this particular circle of corporate grief?

Let’s start with the obvious in that no one really wants to do an exit interview

Let’s be honest.

Who, exactly, is sitting down at the end of their employment journey thinking “You know what I’d love to do right now? A reflective, balanced, psychologically nuanced debrief about my workplace experience.”

No.

The people most motivated to do exit interviews are:

1. The bitter (and honestly, I respect the commitment)
2. The burned out
3. The mildly dissociated but polite
4. And, occasionally, the one evolved human who still believes systems can change

Everyone else?
They are mentally already in Cabo. Or at least in Target buying a candle called New Beginnings.

And data actually backs up this emotional truth.  The people least likely to participate are often those who had the most difficult exit.

So what we’re really collecting is a curated emotional mixtape of resentment, restraint, and selective honesty.

But let me quickly share my own exit interview origin story (trauma, but make it bureaucratic)

I once worked at a place and let’s just say it had asylum vibes. Not metaphorically. Energetically. Structurally. Spiritually.

And they had a policy of No exit interview = no last paycheck. Thats actually illegal. But i’m letting that go.

Nothing says “psychological safety” like a little financial coercion.

So there I was, sitting across from someone with a clipboard, being asked to provide “honest feedback,” while also calculating whether honesty would somehow follow me into my next life.

Listen, I was honest.

And you know what happened?

Nothing.

No sweeping reform.
No organizational awakening.
Not even a passive-aggressive “thank you for your feedback.”

Just vibes. And a paycheck that felt emotionally delayed.


All this for me to still wonder why is this post suddenly popular now?

This is the part that fascinates me.

Because timing is never random.

Right now, we are in a moment where:

1. Layoffs are happening across industries
2. Job security feels theoretical
3. People are leaving, being pushed, being reshuffled, being “reimagined”

In fact, millions of workers are still quitting each month, even in this uncertain economy. At the same time, employers are leaning harder into data. Exit interviews are being reframed as “insight engines” rather than awkward goodbye chats.


Exit interviews are not really about feedback.

They are about closure theater.

They give the illusion that:

> The organization is listening
> The employee is being heard
>  Something meaningful will be done

But most of the time?

It’s retrospective. Post-mortem.
As one source perfectly puts it, it’s like diagnosing the car after the engine explodes.

Insightful? Sure.
Timely? Not so much.

And yet I get it because I too recently asked for exit interview data.

Because I want to know about the patterns, whether we were missing something and whether
there a thread that could actually help us do better?

This is the tension. The leader in me wants the data. The human in me knows the data is complicated.

So what’s the universe’s hint here?

Why now? Why is this old post having a moment? Here’s my theory. We are in a collective reckoning about work.

The unspoken contract of “Give us your time, your loyalty, your identity, and we will give you stability” has been revised.

Quietly. Without an exit interview.

And now people are leaving more thoughtfully, staying more cautiously, and questioning more openly.