Japan labor m2026-10-08 10:07:47Tokyo University graduate quits investment bank after nine months, spotlighting why some young workers walk away from corporate lifeA BlockTempo feature uses the story of Yuki Tanaka, a University of Tokyo graduate who left a foreign investment bank after just nine months, to examine why some young people no longer see corporate employment as an obvious path. Tanaka joined the bank at age 24 on an annual salary of 11 million yen, then quit and started learning embroidery from scratch before launching Take Risk in 2024. The report lays out the working conditions behind that decision in unusually specific detail. Tanaka said his early assignments involved updating client stock prices and organizing financial information, often through long hours in Excel. His day could begin at 10 a.m. and stretch until 2 a.m., and at peak intensity he said he worked at least 36 hours straight. Sleep fell into a punishing cycle of four hours, four hours, then six hours over three days. BlockTempo also places his experience next to wider labor data. It cites a 33.8% three-year turnover rate among new university hires in Japan, compared with 34.9% a year earlier, and says only 8% of Japanese employees are engaged at work, less than half the East Asia average of 18%. The article closes by noting a Stanford Digital Economy Lab study that found workers aged 22 to 25 in AI-exposed occupations had 19% fewer job opportunities than peers in less-exposed roles, compared with a 15% gap before 2025.60
AI2026-08-24 22:00:06Stanford Study Says AI Has Cut Entry-Level Employment by 19% for Young WorkersStanford economists say AI has hit entry-level jobs the hardest in a study updated in August 2026. The researchers found that workers aged 22 to 25 in occupations with high AI exposure had employment levels 19% lower than those in low-exposure fields. That gap was 13% last year, indicating a wider decline over time. The study is titled “Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence,” and the report was cited by Ars Technica.810
