Get the latest tech news

'They refused to let me go': Japanese turn to resignation agencies to quit jobs

One in six workers has engaged a firm to hand in notice for them, as younger workers reject traditional work ethic

Unable to summon the courage to tell her boss that she wanted to quit, she sought help from a company offering proxy resignations, a rapidly growing service for Japanese workers who can’t bring themselves to hand in their notice in person. There are myriad reasons for wanting to resign, says Tanimoto, whose firm boasts a 100% success rate: from unpaid overtime, low wages and employer breaches of contract, to verbal abuse, violence and sexual harassment. The surge in demand for proxy resignations has been attributed to a mismatch between gen Z workers and companies whose corporate culture is rooted in the postwar era, when lifetime employment, promotions and pay rises were expected to be rewarded with absolute loyalty from staff.

Get the Android app