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Some Workers in Japan Who Want To Leave Their Jobs Are Paying a Startup To Tell Their Bosses That They Won't Be Back (japantimes.co.jp)
Stressed out, overworked, or just over it: Workers in Japan who want to leave their jobs -- but don't want to face the stress of quitting in person -- are paying a startup called Exit to tell their bosses that they won't be back. Local media reports: "Quitting jobs can be a soul-crushing hassle. We're here to provide a sense of relief by taking on that burden," said Toshiyuki Niino, co-founder of Senshi S, a startup he and childhood friend Yuichiro Okazaki launched last year. The company operates Exit, a service that relays an employee's intention to resign for a fee: $450 for full-time employees and $360 for part-time workers. Repeat clients get a $90 discount. Whether or not people consider that expensive depends on how desperate they are. But if business is any indication, many regard it as a worthy investment for some much-needed peace of mind. In the one year since Niino and Okazaki set up shop, they have mediated the resignations of roughly 700 to 800 clients from across the nation as the number of requests surge. Amid a tight job market and an improving economy, more workers are changing jobs, lured by higher salaries and fewer hours.
I clearly don't identify with japanese workers because the couple times I've quit I was in no way scared. Probably more secretly gleeful.
Might as well hire someone to break up with your significant other too. Or... how about grow up, schedule a meeting with your boss, and explain to them in a respectful way that you've decided to move on and you're hereby providing your 2 weeks notice. Explain that you'll work to make the transition as easy as possible by transferring knowledge to other workers, and provide a personal email contact they can use in case you forgot to tell them where something is before you leave. Tell them you're thankful for the opportunity you had to work there. When they ask why you're leaving, don't complain about the current employer, just make up some acceptable excuse like "opportunities" or "location" etc. It's a small world, don't burn bridges!
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
I agree. Quitting a crap job or an abusive boss can be a deeply cathartic experience. If you're suffering from stress or burn-out, it is a great first step on the road to recovery. Don't miss out on such a deeply satisfying experience.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Get with the 21st century! Surely the proper way to leave a crappy job is to ghost and just stop coming in.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
It's because of so call "black companies". The take advantage of employees and flout the relatively weak labour laws. Japan has relied on social convention rather than the force of law, so black companies abuse that to their advantage.
When people try to quit they pile on the pressure. Guilt, threats to pass on costs, lies about contracts. So using a service to help quit is a bit like hiring a lawyer, only cheaper.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Japanese culture is about "duty". Duty to family, duty to workplace, duty to society. It's the key aspect of culture.
It occupies the same cultural primacy slot that is occupied by "individual responsibility" in Western cultures. It's why in Japan, bosses often killed themselves when they had to fire workers. Because bosses had the same duty to those workers as workers had to the company, and by firing them, they failed at the primary cultural tenet. It is the deepest failure one can have. It's one from which you don't come back from. The loss of face due to this is effectively permanent, and in East Asian cultures, face is everything. Even real life performance is less valuable than face.
Same road goes the other way. To quit is a severe cultural infraction, because workers carry the same responsibility of "duty", and to quit the company is to be in dereliction of said duty. It's a loss of face that is permanently on your record, one you don't come back from. Hence the stressfulness of situation where you have to tell your boss you're quitting.
This is slowly changing in Japan, mainly driven by the catastrophic birth rate, which means that capable workers are no longer utterly crippled by quitting their first "real job after the university" for the rest of their career. But just because you remain employable, unlike before, doesn't mean that it's any more culturally acceptable of a situation.
We're talking about Japan here. At least make it a Haiku (a polite one of course):
Sorry, so sorry.
Working here was delightful.
A new job calls me.