Unable to face going back to their jobs after the Golden Week holidays that ended in early May, an increasing number of Japanese workers are turning to private services to resign on their behalf, including a rise among graduates who started in April.
The services, which have grown in popularity in recent years, enable workers to quickly leave companies without doing so in-person for reasons that can include harassment or an adverse working environment.
Albatross Co., a Tokyo-based firm launched in 2022, said its resignation service Momuri, which can translate to "already too much," has seen a steady stream of users coming forward with stories of mistreatment.
While it typically handles about 200 people a month, Albatross says numbers rocketed to 1,400 customers in April. It has already heard from more than 500 people so far in May.
Among the reasons given for wanting to quit is that their immediate superiors are unpleasant, or that they were hired as permanent staff but actually employed as contract workers upon starting the job.
People in their 20s and 30s account for 60 percent of Momuri users, with a marked number of them new graduates who only began their jobs in April, the company said.
One graduate told Albatross their new employer had "made it seem at the hiring meeting like it was a company with a glamorous corporate culture, but in reality, the boss ran it like a dictatorship and employees were verbally abused." More quit after the person came forward, the firm said.
Cases can be managed via the Line free-messaging app, with resignations sometimes processed within the same day.
"If someone is suffering mentally and physically in a tough environment, then it's better they quickly turn the page. We want to support people to do that," said Shinji Tanimoto, head of Albatross.
The sector has seen growth in recent years, with more than 100 companies appearing to offer the services. Asking prices vary from the 20,000 to 50,000 yen ($130-$320) range.
The situation is likely to have been given a push by shortages of available workers amid a declining population, which have made it a seller's market for labor in Japan. Mismatches in values between younger workers and companies with old-fashioned cultures are also said to have contributed to the trend.
But despite their convenience, proxy resignation services are limited in handling legal matters unless the individual dealing with the case is a qualified lawyer.
Muneyuki Kakuchiyama, a lawyer at Tokyo-based ITJ Law Office offering proxy resignation services, said the company is approached by people who have not been paid or who had their resignation refused when going through other firms.
"For issues that have the potential to develop into legal problems, we urge people to speak with a lawyer," he said.
Related coverage:
Teleworking in Japan shrinks after COVID, hybrid working on rise
Tokyo police to set up 24-hour lost and found lockers
