Executive Search in Japan
🎙️ Executive Search in Japan
Unlock the secrets of Japan’s elite hiring landscape. From C-suite strategies to cross-cultural insights, this podcast dives deep into the world of executive recruitment in one of the world’s most unique and challenging markets. Whether you're a global talent scout, a leadership candidate, or simply curious about how top-tier hiring works in Japan—this is your front-row seat.
🔎 Candid interviews, expert analysis, and the stories behind the headhunting headlines.
Executive Search in Japan
Quit for Hire: Inside Japan’s Proxy Resignation Trend
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What happens when you’re too nervous to quit your job yourself? In Japan’s latest cultural twist, frustration meets innovation—enter resignation agencies, where you pay someone else to say "I quit" for you.
In this episode of Executive Search in Japan, we dive headfirst into the surprising rise of proxy quitters—services like Momuri guiding tens of thousands out of jobs since the pandemic. We'll explore:
- The emotional and cultural barriers that make resigning feel impossible.
- First-person stories of those pushed to the edge—and the relief they found.
- What this hidden industry reveals about Japan’s work culture unraveling.
- How executive recruiters are recalibrating: loyalty isn’t assumed anymore.
This is more than a quirky trend—it might be the canary in the coal mine for Japan’s evolving workplace norms. Tune in for the weird, the wise, and the workplace game-changing.
Okay, so picture this. You're so stressed about quitting your job, you actually pay someone else to do it for you. Sounds wild, right?
Chase StrattonIt really does.
Tessa SourceleyWell, today on the Deep Dive, we're looking into exactly that Japan's booming resignation agencies, sometimes called ghost quitting services. We'll look at companies like Momori, and that name, by the way, comes from Momori.
Chase StrattonWhich basically means, I've had it. or I just can't take this anymore really captures the feeling.
Tessa SourceleyExactly. So we want to know why these are taking off and what it tells us about work today.
Chase StrattonRight. Our mission really is to unpack why these services have sprung up so fast. What does it signal about the future of work?
Tessa SourceleyRight.
Chase StrattonAnd what are the implications? Especially for things like hiring, talent acquisition, company culture. Because this isn't just some quirky cultural thing. It feels like a fundamental shift happening in the labor market.
Tessa SourceleySo let's start unpacking this. What exactly are these resignation proxy services? Taishoku Daiku, I think they're called.
Chase StrattonTaishoku Daiku. Essentially, they act as a professional intermediary. They deliver the news, your resignation to your employer for you.
Tessa SourceleySo you don't have to face them.
Chase StrattonPrecisely. You avoid what many people find, well, an incredibly difficult, sometimes impossible confrontation.
Tessa SourceleyLet's take Memori as an example. How does it work day to day?
Chase StrattonOkay. So Memori, it was founded March 15th, 2022. The CEO is Tanimoto Shinji under a parent company called Albatross Inc.
Tessa SourceleyRight.
Chase StrattonAnd their process is honestly super streamlined. Clients usually reach out first using messaging apps. Line is really common in Japan. They fill out a quick questionnaire, sign a contract digitally.
Tessa SourceleyAnd then what? How fast does the quitting part happen?
Chase StrattonOften really fast, sometimes within minutes, maybe 20, 30 minutes after the contract is signed. One of Mamouri's staff, they have about 50 people, calls the employer.
Tessa SourceleyJust like that. Hi, your employee quits.
Chase StrattonPretty much, yeah. But it's more than just the phone call. They handle all the follow-up correspondence. Like
Tessa Sourceleywhat?
Chase StrattonArranging to return company stuff, uniforms, maybe locker keys, managing the paperwork that goes with quitting.
Tessa SourceleyOkay, that's comprehensive. What if things get legally tricky, like negotiations?
Chase StrattonThat's a key part. Momori either has its own lawyers or, crucially, partners with a labor
Tessa Sourceleyunion. Ah, the union angle is interesting.
Chase StrattonIt is. It gives them the legal standing to actually negotiate things like unused paid leave or handle disputes directly on the client's behalf.
Tessa SourceleyAnd the cost for all this?
Chase StrattonIt's a fixed fee structure. For full-time employees, it's $22,000. Okay. And for part-time or fixed-term workers, it's cheaper, $12,000.
Tessa SourceleyRight. So who is actually using these services? You mentioned the pressure. Is it mainly younger people like Gen Z finding a new way? Or is it broader?
Chase StrattonIt definitely skews young. About 60% of Momori's clients are in their 20s.
Tessa SourceleyOkay. So the stereotype holds a bit.
Chase StrattonA bit, yeah. But it's definitely not just them. We're seeing 6% of users who are in their 50s.
Tessa SourceleyReally?
Chase StrattonYeah. And almost 3% are over 60. So it crosses generations.
Tessa SourceleyThat is surprising.
Chase StrattonBut here's what's really striking. how long, or rather, how short they've been at the job.
Tessa SourceleyOh.
Chase StrattonA huge chunk, 38.7%, quit within their first six months.
Tessa SourceleyWow, less than half a year.
Chase StrattonAnd some quit even faster. We're talking people resigning after just a few hours on their very first day.
Tessa SourceleyHours. That's incredible. It really speaks volumes, doesn't
Chase Strattonit? It absolutely does. It tells you the pressure or the mismatch is immediate for some people.
Tessa SourceleyThat lack of tenure, especially quitting after hours, it really makes you wonder... Why? Why pay money just to avoid that conversation? What are the core reasons people give?
Chase StrattonWell, the reasons clients give are Like what? That's cited by nearly 34% of clients. Over a third. That's huge. It is. And close behind, at 30.2%, is the fear that their employer would simply refuse to accept their resignation. Just flat out say no.
Tessa SourceleyCan they even do that?
Chase StrattonLegally? Legally, no. But the fear is real, and sometimes employers do try to obstruct.
Tessa SourceleyOkay.
Chase StrattonExcessive overtime is another big one, almost 25%. And then not being able to use paid holidays, that's 13%.
Tessa SourceleyMm-hmm.
Chase StrattonBut cutting across all of this, there's a fundamental driver. what clients call the expectation reality gap.
Tessa SourceleyAh, the old bait and switch.
Chase StrattonExactly. A major disconnect between what the job was sold as during recruitment and what it's actually like day to day.
Tessa SourceleyThose reasons are pretty stark. But, you know, playing devil's advocate for a second, couldn't someone argue that paying to quit is avoiding a difficult but maybe necessary conversation? Like, facing that discomfort could build resilience. Or is that view just too... Western, maybe, given the cultural context.
Chase StrattonThat's a totally fair question. And it does reflect perhaps a more individualistic viewpoint common in the West. Right. But in Japan, trying to quit, especially against the boss's wishes, can escalate way beyond discomfort. It can become, well, psychological warfare.
Tessa SourceleyHow so?
Chase StrattonYou hear stories, bosses literally tearing up resignation letters, forcing employees into this incredibly humiliating deep bow, the dojiza, essentially begging to be allowed to leave.
Tessa SourceleyWow.
Chase StrattonSometimes managers even show up at the employee's home That's
Tessa Sourceleyintense. Crossing a major line.
Chase StrattonAbsolutely. So the agency service acts as a crucial buffer. It shields people from that kind of coercive behavior, protecting their mental health.
Tessa SourceleySo it's less about avoiding discomfort and more about avoiding actual abuse or extreme pressure.
Chase StrattonExactly. And you have to connect it to the wider cultural background, too. Things like shushun koyos, the traditional idea of lifetime employment, create this deep-seated expectation of unwavering loyalty.
Tessa SourceleyMaking quitting feel like a betrayal.
Chase StrattonRight. And then there's wa, the empathy. Yes. Okay. Quitting just becomes this massive, fraught event.
Tessa SourceleySo seeing it that way, it's not about a soft generation being unable to handle things?
Chase StrattonNot at all. It's really an indictment of a corporate culture that, historically at least, relied on intimidation and psychological pressure to keep people sometimes effectively ignoring their legal right to resign.
Tessa SourceleyIt sounds like a problem that was just waiting for a solution then. How big has this whole resignation agency industry become? You said it's booming.
Chase StrattonIt's exploded. Just a few years back, there were maybe a handful of these companies. Now, as of 2025, there are over 100.
Tessa SourceleyOver 100 companies doing this.
Chase StrattonYeah. And Memori's growth really shows the demand. In 2022, they were handling maybe 100 requests a month.
Tessa SourceleyOkay.
Chase StrattonBy late 2023, that jumped to an average of 1,000 to 1,500 requests per month.
Tessa SourceleyThat's incredible growth, more than tenfold.
Chase StrattonMassive growth. And they see huge spikes after holidays, like Golden Week. People have time off. They reflect and decide that's it. They can get 500 to 1,400 cases just in that post-holiday period.
Tessa SourceleyWhat kicked off this awareness? How did people find out about them?
Chase StrattonA lot of it seems to be social media buzz. It went viral. There was one YouTube video apparently showing Mamouri's callers actually making the resignation calls. They got over 3.5 million views.
Tessa SourceleyAh, seeing it in action makes it real.
Chase StrattonExactly. It suddenly made this option visible and maybe more acceptable to a lot of people.
Tessa SourceleyWith that kind of rapid growth and over 100 players now, it must be getting competitive. How do these services stand out from each other?
Chase StrattonYeah, it's not a one-size-fits-all market. Different companies focus on different things.
Tessa SourceleyLike Mamouri versus, say, another one. I think I heard of one called Exit.
Chase StrattonRight, Exit is another big name, actually one of the pioneers, founded back in 2017.
Tessa SourceleyOkay, so how do they compare?
Chase StrattonWell, Mamouri. being newer, made a point of partnering with that certified labor union we mentioned.
Tessa SourceleyRight, for negotiations.
Chase StrattonExactly. So they can directly negotiate things like paid leave for clients.
Tessa SourceleyOh.
Chase StrattonThey pitch themselves as offering best-in-class support.
Tessa SourceleyAn exit.
Chase StrattonExit is often positioned as a lower-cost option. Their model, legally, means the client usually has to handle any direct negotiations themselves, if needed. Exit facilitates the initial resignation message.
Tessa SourceleySo different service levels, different price points.
Chase StrattonPretty much. But it's really important to see this market for what it is. It's a mirror reflecting a problem.
Tessa SourceleyNot the cause of the problem itself.
Chase StrattonPrecisely. It's reflecting this huge unmet demand for people who felt trapped. It signals a kind of structural failure in parts of the traditional employment system, especially, it seems, in small to medium-sized companies and the service industry.
Tessa SourceleyOK, so companies are now facing this choir, employees quitting via proxy. How are they reacting? Are they just accepting it, fighting it?
Chase StrattonIt really runs the gamut. You get outright hostility sometimes, managers refusing to cooperate, even threatening to show up at the agency's office.
Tessa SourceleySeriously?
Chase StrattonOh, yeah. In those cases, memory shifts tactics. They'll use registered mail or email, relying on the legal rights of the employee to resign. They document everything.
Tessa SourceleySmart. What about other reactions?
Chase StrattonMany are just. Resigned acceptance. They get the call. They process the paperwork. Maybe they're annoyed. Maybe not. But they do it.
Tessa SourceleyAnd any positive signs companies learning from this?
Chase StrattonThere are some. A small but apparently growing number see it as a wake-up call. They start implementing changes, more frequent one-on-one meetings, trying to actually listen to employees before they reach the breaking point.
Tessa SourceleyThat's encouraging.
Chase StrattonAnd here's a really fascinating twist. Some companies are now contacting these same resignation agencies.
Tessa SourceleyTo complain.
Chase StrattonNo, to ask for referrals. They see these agencies as having access to a pool of newly unemployed people who are clearly looking for something different.
Tessa SourceleyWow, okay. That's opportunistic. Or maybe pragmatic.
Chase StrattonA bit of both, probably. But it leads to something even more interesting Mamouri is doing.
Tessa SourceleyWhich is?
Chase StrattonThey've launched a new service called Mamouri Plus Two. It's basically turning their resignation data into a consulting service.
Tessa SourceleyUsing the reasons people quit to help companies improve.
Chase StrattonExactly. They claim to have the industry's largest big data on resignations, drawing from over 20,000 cases a year. They use this to help companies pinpoint why people are leaving and fix those root causes.
Tessa SourceleyThat's a smart pivot. Turning the problem into the solution almost.
Chase StrattonAnd there's more. Memori Plus also offers an information disclosure service.
Tessa SourceleyWhat does that mean?
Chase StrattonIt gives potential employees information about a company's resignation history. Think of it like Glassdoor or Yelp, but specifically focused on why people quit that particular company, powered by the agency's data.
Tessa SourceleyThat's huge. Talk about transparency. It really shifts the power dynamic, doesn't it?
Chase StrattonAbsolutely. Employers are suddenly being held publicly accountable for their culture in a very direct way. The old ways of relying on tradition or pressure just won't cut it if your dirty laundry is being aired to potential hires.
Tessa SourceleyThis feels like a massive shift with big implications. If we zoom out, what does this trend mean for, say, executive recruiters, especially in Japan, but maybe lessons for elsewhere, too?
Chase StrattonIt means a fundamental rethink is needed, especially around loyalty and what makes a good candidate profile. How so? For decades, especially in Japan, long tenure staying at one company for years was seen as the gold standard. Loyalty. Stability.
Tessa SourceleyRight. Job hopping was frowned upon.
Chase StrattonExactly. But that metric is becoming obsolete fast, particularly for workers in their 20s and 30s. Now making intentional moves, having multiple job changes, that could be seen as showing drive, adaptability, someone actively seeking the right cultural fit, not just taking it out.
Tessa SourceleySo recruiters need to update their thinking. Short stints don't automatically mean flaky anymore.
Chase StrattonPrecisely. A short tenure might mean the person has high standards or refused to tolerate a toxic environment Okay, so if
Tessa Sourceleythat's the new landscape, what are the new rules of engagement for recruiters trying to place people successfully? What's critical now?
Chase StrattonTransparency. It's absolutely non-negotiable. Remember that expectation-reality gap?
Tessa SourceleyYeah, a top reason for quitting via agency.
Chase StrattonRight. So recruiters have a duty, really, to push their client companies for total honesty. What's the culture really like? What are the actual working hours, the overtime situation, the leadership style, no more glossing over the tough stuff.
Tessa SourceleyGet the real picture out there.
Chase StrattonYes. And also recognizing mental health as a core business issue, a retention issue, not just a personal problem for the employee to deal with.
Tessa SourceleySo recruiters should be assessing that both in candidates and in companies.
Chase StrattonI think so. Assessing candidate well-being, but also advocating for client companies to build psychologically sustainable cultures, places where people can thrive, not just survive. Thank you.
Tessa SourceleyThis sounds like the role of the recruiter itself is changing quite dramatically.
Chase StrattonIt absolutely is. It has to. Recruiters need to evolve from just being headhunters finding bodies to fill seats into genuine culture consultants. Their job isn't just placing someone. It's ensuring that placement has a real chance of working long term, helping the company become a place where people want to stay.
Tessa SourceleyUsing data, perhaps, like from Memoria Plus.
Chase StrattonExactly. Using data-backed insights to help clients ditch outdated, harmful practices and build workplaces that are actually attractive in today's market. It's a shift from finding people for the company to helping the company become better for the people.
Tessa SourceleyIt signifies a real move away from those traditional Japanese norms we talked about.
Chase StrattonA massive shift. Away from shushinkoyu, lifetime employment, towards job mobility. Away from prioritizing wa, group harmony above all, towards valuing individual well-being and mental health. Away from rigid, high power distance hierarchies, towards flatter structures and open communication And
Tessa Sourceleyeven the act of resignation itself is changing.
Chase StrattonYes, from the ideal of non-confrontational resignation that often failed, to this new reality of confrontation-averse resignation done via agencies. It signals a complete flip from an employer-centric market to an employee-centric one. It's irreversible.
Tessa SourceleySo wrapping this up, this ghost quitting phenomenon, it seems messy, maybe even uncomfortable to talk about.
Chase StrattonIt is. But it's a really powerful symptom of a bigger generational shift, a revolution even. These agencies are filling a void, frankly, a gap where people's legal rights were effectively canceled out by cultural pressures. They're a necessary outcome of power shifting decisively from the employer to the employee.
Tessa SourceleyA push towards something better.
Chase StrattonTowards a more balanced, more transparent, and ultimately more humane way of working. It's a painful adjustment for some companies, no doubt, but it feels like an unstoppable force.
Tessa SourceleySo a final thought for you, our listener. What does the sheer success of these resignation agencies tell us about that fundamental human need for dignity, for autonomy in our working lives? And think about how similar pressures, similar shifts might be playing out or could play out in other countries, even with very different cultures. Something to ponder until our next deep dive.
