A Japanese company called Exit is taking an interesting approach to helping unsatisfied people transition out of their jobs: they quit for them. Their rates are $450 for full-timers, $360 for part-timers, and repeat clients get a $90 discount.
The company was started by two childhood friends, Yuichiro Okazaki and Toshiyuki Niino. Exit was only founded last year and they say it’s already turning a profit. “There’s definitely demand out there,” Okazaki told The Japan Times. “Personally, I’m perplexed as to why people find it hard to quit, but I do sense that this atmosphere is prevalent in Japan.”
For ¥50000, this Japanese company will quit your job for you. https://t.co/3xwiIPV773
— hardmaru (@hardmaru) August 29, 2018
The company essentially acts as an intermediary between the employee and the employer they desire to leave. After notifying the person’s boss that the person has quit, they communicate basic requests about the procedure, but they don’t handle more complex things, like severance packages or dismissal wages. After that, the company and their former employee typically work out any remaining details via the mail.
“Quitting jobs can be a soul-crushing hassle,” Niino said. “We’re here to provide a sense of relief by taking on that burden.”
On Exit’s website, they list examples where clients explain what situations led to them hiring the service, and they range from moving cities, to career changes, to sheer frustration with their employer, which is often coupled with anxiety about any potential anger or retaliation. The majority of clients seem to be in their 20s and 30s.
According to Japan’s Statistics Bureau, Japan’s unemployment rate has stayed low at 2.5%, compared to 5.5% after the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis in the US shook the global economy. Plentiful job openings allow workers, especially young people, the freedom to investigate multiple career options, while in decades past, the majority of people spent the majority of their working life with the same employer.
In the United States, unemployment is sitting at a relatively low 3.9%, compared to a whopping 10% after the housing crisis. Work culture is the US is not quite as strict at Japan and less rooted in tradition. As per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average amount of time employees in the United States spend at each job in their lifetime is 4.2 years, compared to 4.6 years in January 2014. The USBLS also notes that people born in the 1960s-80s averaged two job switches by age 32, while the young people of today average closer to three or four.
What do you think about this new phenomenon? Would you ever use such a service to quit your job? Is it just a shyness solution, or improper etiquette, let us know in the comments down below!