Japanese Employee Quits Unpaid Overtime, Lands 30% Raise in Career Change

A 47-year-old Japanese man, identified as Mr. Sakai, has successfully navigated a career change, boosting his annual salary by approximately 30% and regaining work-life balance. Sakai, a member of Japan's "employment ice age" generation, felt demoralized after discovering that new employees at his company were starting with significantly higher salaries than his own after more than two decades of service.

Sakai, who works for a small specialized trading company in Japan, graduated during a difficult economic period and felt indebted to his employer for the job. He consistently worked unpaid overtime and dedicated his weekends to industry research and preparing meeting materials, hoping to repay the company's "kindness." However, the revelation of new hires' starting salaries, ¥230,000 per month compared to his own ¥260,000, prompted a drastic change in his perspective.

"If the company can afford to pay new hires this much, they should have given us a raise first," Sakai reportedly thought. He felt taken for granted and that his years of effort had been devalued. This realization led him to stop working unpaid overtime and strictly adhere to his office hours, dedicating his evenings to preparing for a job transition.

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If the company can afford to pay new hires this much, they should have given us a raise first. I suddenly felt like I had been taken for granted by the company all along, and my efforts until now seemed worthless.

Despite the perceived difficulty of changing careers in one's 40s, Sakai successfully transitioned to a similar industry. His annual salary rose from ¥4.3 million to ¥5.6 million, primarily due to an increase in his base pay. His new company also offers job security with an extended employment system until age 70.

Reflecting on his departure, Sakai noted that his company only began to recognize his value after he resigned, even stating they couldn't operate without him. He expressed a desire for future generations not to experience similar situations. His story offers a glimmer of hope for the "employment ice age" generation, suggesting that reassessing one's market value and taking the step to change jobs can lead to improved compensation and career prospects.

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It's only when I decided to leave that the company started to affirm my value, saying they couldn't operate without me. What's the point of saying that now? I just hope that my juniors and current new hires don't encounter the same situation as me.