In Japan, many employees don’t have the courage to face their managers and tell them they’re leaving the company. Some are so overcome by fear that they turn to agencies to help them resign.
This practice may be uncommon in the west, but it is widespread in the land of the rising sun. One in six Japanese employees used the services of a company specialising in resignations by proxy between January and June 2024, according to a Mynavi survey of 800 workers, reported by the Japan Times.
More young people than their elders need support to quit their jobs. In fact, 18.6% of people who changed careers in their 20s used the services of a resignation agency, compared with just 4.4% of those over 50.
The Japanese use these companies out of fear of what people will say. Japanese employees have a very particular relationship with work: corporate culture has been strongly influenced by Confucianism, which emphasises a hierarchical social structure characterised by the obedience of subordinates to their superiors.
Disobedience is not accepted, nor is disloyalty. So it’s hardly surprising that Japanese workers traditionally remain loyal to the same employer for decades, if not for their entire careers.
In this context, resigning can be a real challenge. Employees are often reluctant to have to explain their reasons for leaving to their manager, and prefer to have a third party do it for them.
For a few tens of thousands of yen, specialist agencies contact the resigning worker’s employer to inform them of their intention to leave, and pass on any requests they may have concerning, for example, unused leave days.
But they rarely deal with more sensitive issues such as resignation compensation, preferring to refer their clients to lawyers in the event of a dispute.
‘Death by overworking’
Be that as it may, Japan’s workers are convinced of the value of such firms: they make resignations feel less dramatic. Some employers in Japan refuse to let go of their workers, going so far as to tear up their resignation letters.
According to the Japan Times, 40.7% of workers surveyed have already been confronted with such situations. Others fear having to face this scenario if they informed their manager of their intention to pursue other professional opportunities.
The rise of resignation agencies attests to the pressures faced by the country’s employees, who are often forced to work long hours to compensate for low basic wages. Many end up developing chronic stress which, in the most extreme cases, can lead to karoshi, literally “death by overworking”.
The problem has become so widespread in the country that a law on the subject was passed by the Japanese parliament in 2014.
Indeed, all means are good to try and change mentalities in the country, as overwork is a real public health issue. Younger generations of workers are the driving force behind this change: not wanting to fall into the same trap as their elders, they aspire to a better balance between their personal and professional lives, leading them to consider expatriation or resignation, sometimes with the help of a specialist agency.