To leave their jobs, employees are increasingly calling on “resignation agents”

Japanese employees, returning from a long cycle of public holidays, have the work blues this week. With little leave and strong managerial pressure, they often think about resigning during this period. But resigning is not trivial, even less so for the Japanese.

In Japan, resignation support services are overwhelmed this week. The Japanese have just finished this week of May 8 a long cycle of public holidays, somewhat comparable to the Ascension Bridge this year in France: Golden Week. It is a period of around ten days, where several public holidays accumulate. One of the rare times in the year when employees can find themselves with more than a full week without going to the office or factory.

Japanese workers take very little leave. On average, they only deposit half of the vacation days provided for in their contract. And so Golden Week, which ended on the evening of Monday May 6, can be a time to reflect on their place at work. This is why many of them decide to resign at this time. The Japanese even speak of “Gogatsu byo”, the “disease of the month of May”.

Tense relationship and emotional blackmail

As in Japan, work and business are at the heart of people’s lives, a resignation is often experienced as a real betrayal. With regard to their company but also with regard to their colleagues, who will have to work more. Due to population collapse, there are huge labor shortages in Japan and it is very difficult to find a replacement when someone abandons their job.

So workers call on specialized companies who will resign for them. They thus avoid confrontation with their boss who will do everything to try to retain them. He can yell at them because hierarchical relationships are tense here, but he can also emotionally blackmail them in front of colleagues, to force them to stay.

An efficient and inexpensive service

The resignation companies will handle this. They will make calls to management for them and do all the mailing for them. They allow you to avoid painful direct contact with managers and also to receive help in negotiating their last check.

Hiring a resignation agent doesn’t cost much. It takes between 20,000 and 30,000 yen for a classic resignation, that is to say between 120 and 180 euros. It’s a little more expensive if there is a dispute and you have to hire a lawyer. The resignation agent can also take care of this.