“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.”                                                                                                                      Matthew 20:1

Kimura san* felt trapped. He desperately wanted to leave his job due to unrealistic expectations in his workplace, extremely long working hours and an unreasonable boss, but he found it very difficult to quit. He knew that such an action would immediately prompt an awkward confrontation with his supervisor who, along with the company, would apply enormous pressure on him to suck it up and continue. Therefore, Kimura san chose an alternative route. He engaged the services of a particular company to take care of such unpleasant details by hiring them to resign on his behalf. In taking this step, Kimura san had entered into a contractual relationship with what is now known as a taishoku daikō (退職代行), or a “proxy quitter.” 

Unlike previous generations of workers who usually were committed to lifetime employment with a single company, younger Japanese are now leaving their jobs in increasing numbers. The recent pandemic served to escalate this trend. Coupled with a steadily shrinking workforce, the balance of power between employees and employers has gradually shifted to the employees’ favor. Despite these changes in circumstances, however, the natural tendency of Japanese is to avoid confrontational situations. Terminating one’s employment would likely lead to a pathway full of uncomfortable conversations and unpredictable outcomes, something to be avoided at all costs. This scenario is where the taishoku daikō enter the picture by serving as an important middle man between an exasperated worker and a company hierarchy with completely different objectives. 

New startup companies like Mō Muri, translated “I can’t take it anymore,” now offer a service that benefits such disgruntled workers and provides a helpful passage through the potentially explosive minefield of traditional, cultural and personal hazards. For a reasonable fee of up to ¥50,000 (approximately $350), a professional will be dispatched to the employer and quit on the worker’s behalf, saving face and a potential ugly confrontation for both parties. Taking this unusual course of action is still relatively rare in Japan and is largely restricted to a younger demographic, but perhaps this new social trend will begin to decline as companies become better at compensating and supervising their employees.

The drastic action of hiring a proxy quitter usually arises from an acrimonious or unsatisfying relationship between a seemingly unreasonable boss and a disgruntled employee. On one occasion in the Bible, Jesus used a comparable analogy to describe the kingdom of heaven, introducing radically new values and actions that were quite incongruous with standard business patterns and expectations. In Matthew 20:1-16, he described a landowner, representing God, as paying all of the hired laborers in his vineyard a full day’s wage regardless of the hours they worked. Through this simple but profound parable, Jesus cast a spotlight on the almost scandalous generosity of God, going far beyond traditional applications of fairness rooted within normal contractual relationships. In economic and social constructs where everyone is typically preoccupied with their personal rights, Jesus spoke of a higher way, pointing to a radically different kingdom where “the last will be first, and the first last (v.16).” Just a few days later, Jesus surrendered his life as the supreme example of God’s unmeasurable generosity by becoming our proxy on a cross. Like Kimura san, we were trapped, not by our work circumstances, but by our own sin. We needed a “middle man” to intervene for us. His name is Jesus.

*Fictional character