Thousands of Workers in Japan Find Themselves Incapable of Quitting Their Jobs. They’re Hiring Agencies to Do It For Them

A few years ago, a company had to choose a name to present to its customers, so it opted for clarity. It chose Momuri, which means “I’m fed up” or “I can’t do this anymore” in Japanese. It’s not a conventional brand name, but it sums up what this Tokyo-based agency is all about. Founded in 2022, Momuri has gained considerable popularity over the past few years. Its mission is to help employees who want to leave their jobs and don’t know how to do it.

And this company isn’t the only one. Japan has a strict work culture, with very long office hours. There’s even a word for death from overwork (karoshi). That’s why resignation management has become a booming business.

Stressful working hours. According to the OECD, while Japan isn’t one of the countries with the highest average number of hours worked per year, employees in the country do have strenuous working hours. The Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS) estimated in 2015 that about 20% of employees in their 30s and 40s worked between 49 and 59 hours per week. However, 15% worked at least 60 hours. In practice, AOTS warns that this translates into four hours of overtime per day and employees going home late at night.

Recently, CNN talked about specific cases of workers who died after accumulating 159 hours of overtime in a month. In one case, a young doctor in the Japanese city of Kobe worked more than 200 hours of overtime. He died by suicide.

Japan, the land of karoshi. As mentioned earlier, Japan even has a word for death from overwork: karoshi. The Japanese government has been aware of this phenomenon since the late 1980s. It has become a serious problem, resulting in large compensation payments. According to The Guardian, the Ministry of Labor counted more than 2,000 victims in 2015. However, as Statista notes, the number of work-related suicides in the country over the past two years is much closer to 3,000 than 2,000, although there was a 3% decrease last year.

A career change. Some employees eventually decide to leave their jobs, whether because of overwork, disagreements with their bosses, or simply a desire to explore new horizons. But it’s not always easy. In a country with a strict work culture, where patience and loyalty have always been praised, submitting a resignation letter can be complicated.

In addition, for years it was common in Japan for employees to stay with the same company for their entire careers. Although this trend has changed recently, the Tokyo Weekender reports that in 2021, the average tenure for employees was 12.3 years, rising to 21.2 years in the electricity sector. This number is much higher than in the U.S., where employees stay with the same company for an average of 4.2 years.

Ripped resignation letters. Yuki Watanabe, the pseudonym of a 24-year-old Japanese man who recently told CNN about his case, explains that after a period of strenuous work and feeling physically ill, he decided to quit his job. The young man said the problem was that he didn’t want his boss to reject his resignation and force him to work longer.

He’s not alone. A company familiar with similar cases tells the media outlet that it has encountered employees whose resignation letters were torn to shreds by their bosses on as many as three occasions. “Employers [are] not letting them quit even when they kneel down to the ground to bow,” it said.

If you can’t do it yourself, get help. Better yet, get help from an experienced professional. More Japanese seem to be resorting to this method when they’ve decided they want to quit their jobs but don’t know how to do it or want to save themselves the embarrassment of knocking on their bosses’ doors to hand them a signed letter.

One company that has found a lucrative business in this need is Momuri, a resignation agency run by the Tokyo-based Albatross Co. For 22,000 yen, or about $150, its professionals are responsible for notifying the company of the resignation, negotiating the worker’s departure, and offering advice if difficulties arise. Part-timers pay only 12,000 yen, about $80.

Is it the only company? No. Momuri may be the one that has attracted the most media attention, but it’s not alone. Kyodo News claims more than a hundred agencies offer similar services for fees ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 yen, between $140 and $350. The Financial Times cites a few, all with names as evocative as Momuri: Yametara Iinen (“It’s OK to quit”), Yamerun desu (“Let’s quit”), or Saraba (“Goodbye”). These companies’ origins predate the pandemic, but the business seems to have gained popularity after the health crisis.

It’s a promising business. And its data is undoubtedly intriguing. These companies want to help employees avoid confrontation, a bad reputation, the stress of an awkward conversation with an overbearing boss, and the administrative hassles that can come with resignation. The truth is that companies like these have built up a large customer base. Momuri operations manager Shiori Kawamata says they received about 11,000 inquiries last year. The Tokyo agency even offers a 50% discount to those who use its services to submit a second resignation.

Who uses this kind of service? From young workers dealing with their first jobs to experienced employees. A few months ago, Momuri told The Japan Times that 40% of its customers are professionals over 40. In other parts of the world, these types of companies may come as a surprise, but they have made a name for themselves in Japan. According to the same media outlet, a survey from En Japan, a human resources agency, shows that 70% of respondents know these job quitting options.

Another key word: gogatsubyō. Interestingly, Momuri seems to have its own “peak season” of activity. In early May, Ōgon Shūkan (Golden Week) vacations end and must return to their offices. This time of the year coincides with gogatsubyō, known as “May sickness” or post-holiday blues, and the resignation office sees a surprising application spike. This year, there were more than 150 in a single day.

The changes in Japanese society partly explain this influx. The demographic situation―a low birthrate and an aging population crisis―make it difficult for companies to recruit workers. This also gives young people room to consider a change if unsatisfied with their jobs. Hiroshi Ono, a professor at Hitotsubashi University, told CNN that there’s a change in the generational mentality and that young people are no longer hesitant to quit.

Image | Justin Lynham

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