I will be out of the office this week. If you need assistance while I’m away, please contact [NAME] at [EMAIL].
So you've said your farewells and it's time to pack up your desk before getting escorted out. While you're there, you might as well create an out of office message to any hapless person that missed out on the news of your leaving.
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I am out of the office from [date range]. If you need immediate assistance, please contact [name, title and contact information].
I think this makes a lot of sense for a 2-3 month absence, when there wouldn’t be much point in reading and responding to things when you get back. Questions will have been answered and issues resolved by different means.
Hello, It’s that time of the year. The time where I save up all my vacation (4 weeks) and spend it on one epic adventure. Where am I? [COUNTRY], the land of magic realism. And I’ll be completely disconnected. In fact, I’ve asked [NAME] from IT to change my password so I can’t check my email at all. #vacationorbust. If you have any questions about [PROMOTION] or anything else, get in touch with [NAME] at [EMAIL] If you want to talk about the hottest job opening at [COMPANY], [POSITION/TITLE] get in contact with our People and Culture team at [EMAIL].
21. "Hello, you've reached [your name, the office of X company]. The team is currently out of the office, but we'll be back on [date] stuffed with good food and eager to speak with you. Leave your name, number, and — if you're so inclined — your favorite [holiday dish, Thanksgiving tradition, etc.]"
I’ll be back in front of my computer on [date] and will respond to your message at that time. If you need immediate assistance, please send an email to [contact name] at [contact email]. For Those Who Intend to Chill in a Galaxy Far Far Away (Where There Is No Internet)
Hi, I’ll be back on {MM/DD]. please contact [name] at [email] or [phone] if you really, really, really think it’s urgent. Otherwise, I’ll respond when I get back.
Over Twitter DMs, one woman sent me her OOO messages from when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The messages — composed while she was undergoing chemotherapy treatments and recovering from surgery — were detailed and unique. They offered touches of humor, honesty, details about her treatment schedules and set expectations for others trying to reach her. She offered alternative contact options for potential emailers to make sure urgent requests didn’t fall through the cracks but offered a dose or reality as well. I particularly appreciated this line:
I used to know someone who had a snarky message about how “if this is an emergency, there are no actual emergencies in my field,” and then encouraged someone to Google for “goats in trees” and calm down. Yes, she was allowed do that in her office.
Check your insurance is up to date and covers the holiday periodMake sure you have sufficient funds in your business account to cover any regular payments for salaries and other billsClarify with staff their exact leave dates and note themSend out your invoices to clientsPay your supplier invoicesSettle your finances and pays
But this absence of basic travel cybersecurity is a problem. Email is the number one threat vector for socially engineered attacks. An automatic reply message not only sends the information to designated contacts, but it also bounces back to people who send phishing emails. Threat actors use any details found in OOO messages to craft targeted social engineering messages. Well-targeted messages build trust that threat actors take advantage of.
Chances are you’ll be checking email while you’re on vacation. Almost two-thirds of travelers do, according to a poll by travel agency Travel Leaders Group. But just because you can’t unplug doesn’t mean your coworkers and clients need to know. In fact, you’d probably prefer that they leave you alone so you can enjoy your getaway on your own terms.
Thanks for your email. I’m currently on holiday with my family for the first time in what seems like forever. For urgent matters, [NAME] will help you. She doesn’t have a cape, but she is basically Superwoman. See you real soon.
Each time McClure makes an appearance in these out-of-office messages, he “speaks” on behalf of my colleague and alludes to the previous auto-responses in which he starred. It’s a mild form of self-deprecating humor — as if to say, “I know, I’m out of the office again” — made only funnier by the made-up teaser title included in the last line.
This makes a lot of sense to me, since surely in the 3-4 months people tend take as leave in the US, your issue would have been resolved. Also for parental leave, most people delegate ongoing projects to some specific person, so anything that’s still going to be going on months from now when you return is getting handled by someone else.
Education Details: Template #1 Out-Of-Office Old School Style: For those who want to keep it low key. Thank you for your email, I’m currently Out Of Office till