Workers In Japan Turn To Companies That Help Them Quit Their Jobs

In Japan, companies are cashing in on employees’ hesitancy to call it quits and helping people leave their unsatisfying workplaces. According to the Wall Street Journal, a company named Exit is in the job of helping people resign from their jobs and is even offering half-off for returning clients. The firm, launched in 2017, overseas the resignations of around 10,000 people per year. For 20,000 yen (approximately Rs 11,600), the business makes a call to the client’s company and informs them that they are quitting while spelling out other details. They also tell them about when their last day would be at the office and gather other information about how to return company-issued tech or uniforms and more. 

Ever since Exit’s launch, similar services have cropped up across the country, per WSJ. Its competitor Albatross calls clients’ places of employment and declares they are quitting and specifies details, such as last day. Another firm called Momuri – which translates to “I can’t do this anymore” – is also gaining popularity in Japan. 

To answer why workers are reaching out to such firms is quite simple. People in Japan find it difficult to quit jobs because they face immense opposition and stress while doing so. In most extreme cases, grumpy bosses rip up resignation letters and harass employees to force them to stay. “Japanese are not educated to debate and express opinions,” Exit co-founder Toshiyuki Niino, 34, told the Wall Street Journal. 

Separately, Ayumi Sekine, who works at Albatross, said he also faced a similar situation with his previous job. He said that when he tried to resign from his job at a gas company, his former boss refused to acknowledge it and he had to beg him to go. Only after an immense crying was he allowed to leave the job. 

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Yuta Sakamoto, another disgruntled employee, paid over $200 to a quitting agency to help him leave his job where his former boss warned him that he’d be ruining his career if he ever left. Then there are some who can’t afford these services and pretend to be from a quitting agency when tendering a resignation. 

Albatross CEO Shinji Tanimoto says that most of the bosses are fine with a third party informing them about an employee going on notice. However, a few of them demand legal negotiations with a lawyer present.

The reason behind quitting is mostly because of difficult bosses, unpaid overtime, and a culture of not being able to use your paid time off.

Meanwhile, according to WSJ, many companies in Japan are also reaching out to quitting agencies for referrals for the newly unemployed.