Losing Your Job in Japan: Part 2 – Looking for Answers
In my previous article, I wrote about the period immediately after an ownership change and the growing sense that something was different. Nothing had happened officially, but the atmosphere had changed enough that I began questioning whether my future with the company was as secure as I had once believed.
At this stage, I still had a job. I was still carrying out my normal responsibilities and trying to remain professional. However, I had also started asking myself questions that I had never seriously considered before.
What happens if a company no longer wants me?
Can they simply tell me to leave?
What rights do I actually have in Japan?
Like many foreign residents, I realised I had spent years building a career without ever taking the time to understand the system that protected it.
Discovering How Little I Knew
One of the biggest surprises was how little practical information I had absorbed despite living and working in Japan for many years.
I understood how to do my job. I understood my responsibilities. I understood how to navigate daily life in Japan.
What I did not understand was Japanese labour law.
Looking back, this seems strange. Most of us insure our homes, insure our vehicles, and prepare for emergencies. Yet many employees never learn what happens if their job suddenly becomes uncertain.
I was no different.
The possibility of losing my position had always felt like something that happened to other people.
The Internet Rabbit Hole
Like most people, I started searching online.
At first, the information was overwhelming.
Some websites claimed employees were strongly protected. Others described situations where people felt pressured to resign. Some articles discussed redundancy, while others discussed dismissal, restructuring, voluntary resignation, or contract termination.
The more I read, the more confused I became.
I soon realised that many people were discussing completely different situations while using similar terminology.
What seemed like a simple question often had a complicated answer.
Learning About Worker Protections
One of the first things I discovered was that permanent employees in Japan generally have stronger protections than many people realise.
Contrary to what some workers assume, a company cannot simply wake up one morning and decide to dismiss somebody because it wants to save money or because management has changed.
Japanese labour law places significant restrictions on dismissal.
This does not mean employees are invincible. Companies still restructure. Departments still change. Businesses still close.
However, the process is often far more complicated than many workers expect.
This was reassuring, but it also created a new problem.
If workers have these protections, why did so many people still end up leaving their jobs during restructuring?
Understanding Pressure
As I continued researching, I learned about something many workers encounter.
- Not dismissal.
- Pressure.
- Suggestions.
- Conversations.
- Meetings.
- Recommendations.
Situations where a company may prefer an employee to leave voluntarily rather than pursue a formal dismissal process.
I began to understand why so many employment disputes seemed complicated from the outside.
The question was not always whether somebody could be dismissed.
Sometimes the question was whether they could be convinced to leave first.
Looking Beyond My Current Job
Around the same time, I started doing something else.
I began researching alternatives.
Not because I had decided to leave, but because I realised I had become too dependent on a single employer.
For nearly a decade, my professional identity had become tied to one organisation.
The possibility of starting over felt intimidating.
I was no longer in my twenties. I had responsibilities, bills, and a family to support.
At the same time, I realised something important.
If I was going to feel uncertain about my future, I needed options.
The more options I had, the less fear would control my decisions.
A Change in Mindset
Looking back, this period marked the beginning of a significant mindset shift.
The situation had not improved.
Nothing had been resolved.
In many ways, the uncertainty was greater than before.
However, I had stopped passively worrying and started actively learning.
Instead of asking, “What if I lose my job?” I began asking, “What would I do if that happened?”
Those are very different questions.
One creates fear.
The other creates a plan.
At the time, I still hoped everything would stabilise and return to normal.
But I was slowly beginning to realise that preparing for change was not the same as giving up.
It was simply being realistic.