In Japan, a nation reputed for loyalty to companies and lifetime employment, people who job-hop are often viewed as quitters
TOKYO -- In Japan, a nation reputed for loyalty to companies and lifetime employment, people who job-hop are often viewed as quitters. And that’s considered shameful.
Enter “taishoku daiko,” or “job-leaving agents.” Dozens of such services have sprung up in the last several years to help people who simply want out.
“Imagine a messy divorce,” says Yoshihito Hasegawa, who heads Tokyo-based TRK, whose Guardian service last year advised 13,000 people on how to resign from their jobs with minimal hassles.
People often stick with jobs even when they're unhappy, feeling as if they are “kamikaze” sacrificing their lives for the greater good, he said, comparing his clients to pilots sent on suicide missions in the closing days of World War II.
“It’s the way things are done, the same way younger people are taught to honor older people,” he said. “Quitting would be a betrayal.”
Founded in 2020, Guardian, a taishoku daiko service, has helped various people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, escape less painfully from jobs they want to quit. That includes people who worked in a Shinto shrine, a dentist’s office and law firm to convenience store and restaurant staff.
Nearly half of Guardian's clients are women. Some work for a day or two and then discover promises of pay or work hours were false.
Guardian charges 29,800 yen ($208) for its service, which includes a...
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