A new trend has recently emerged in the South Korean labor consultancy industry: “resignation agency services.” Beyond the traditional role of labor consultants assisting with resignations, labor law firms now specialize solely in handling resignations. Resignation agency services take care of tasks such as notifying the intention to resign on behalf of the resigning individual.
A 34-year-old retiree who recently utilized resignation agency services to quit his job said, “After facing discouragement from the company for months, I finally submitted my resignation through the agency.” A Chosunilbo reporter contacted a resignation agency in Seoul to delve into the specific procedures.
Initially, upon payment of a 100,000 won fee, the agency sends a delegation letter and a resignation letter template via email. Once these documents are completed, the agency calculates severance pay, annual leave allowances, and other entitlements due upon resignation, negotiates with the company, and submits the resignation letter on behalf of the client. They also offer guidance on the necessary documents and procedures to claim unemployment benefits. Additional fees may be applicable in cases involving complex issues such as unpaid wages.
Resignation agency service users are predominantly in their 20s and 30s, but there is also a growing number of users in their 40s and older. According to the agency, 47% of all users are in their 30s, 34% in their 20s, and 11% and 5% respectively in their 40s and 50s. An agency representative mentioned, “The recent trend favoring remote work environments also contributes to the increased demand for agency services.”
The job market shows a rising preference for experienced positions in response to frequent resignations. A survey conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor among personnel managers of 500 major companies last year found that 16.1% of new hires at large companies resigned within a year, equating to one in six new hires. Companies appear to favor immediately deployable experienced hires over new ones, resulting in a decrease in the proportion of new hires from 47% in 2019 to 40.3% last year. Meanwhile, the proportion of experienced hires increased from 41.4% to 46.1% during the same period.
