【Survey on True Feelings Towards Bosses】About 30% of mid-career employees engage in "quiet quitting," while young employees move towards "leaving or transferring"? The true nature of "difficulty speaking up" that stagnates organizations.
Professional Studio Inc.'s survey reveals that over 70% of full-time employees find it difficult to speak up to their superiors, leading to "leaving or transferring" among young employees and "quiet quitting" among mid-career staff, ultimately causing organizational stagnation.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 7, 2026 at 19:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 7, 2026 at 10:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 7, 2026 at 10:42 (10 min after Collected)
In recent years, as talent retention and improving organizational productivity have become critical issues for companies, the nature of daily communication between superiors and subordinates is being reevaluated.
To understand the communication barriers in the workplace and their impact, Professional Studio Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Ryutaro Ichikawa), which offers comprehensive HR support services for ventures and small to medium-sized enterprises, including HR system design consulting and IT tools for design and operation "FirstHR" (https://first-hr.jp/), conducted a survey targeting 262 full-time employees aged 20-49.
The results of this survey revealed that a large number of full-time employees feel a "difficulty speaking up" to their superiors, and this tends to cause behavioral changes that lead to organizational stagnation.
## Key Findings of This Survey
* 70% of full-time employees have experienced "difficulty speaking up" to their superiors; the most common reason is "suggestions for improvement" exceeding reporting errors or requesting paid leave.
* The most common reasons for not speaking up vary by generation: 20s cite "seems busy," 30s cite "weak relationship," and 40s cite "lack of confidence in conveying."
* Impacts differ by generation: Approximately 30% of employees in their 20s consider "leaving or transferring," while approximately 30% of those in their 30s and 40s move towards "quiet quitting."
※ For details on the survey methodology and target audience, please refer to the "Survey Implementation Overview" section below.
### Survey Results (Excerpt)
1. 70.4% of full-time employees experience "difficulty speaking up" to their superiors; the most common is "suggestions for improvement to the company," surpassing reporting errors or requesting paid leave.
In workplace communication, what kind of content do subordinates find "difficult to say" to their superiors? We asked full-time employees about their experiences in recent years where they felt it was difficult to report or consult with their direct supervisor.
Only 29.6% answered "nothing in particular," indicating that 70.4% of people have experienced some form of "difficulty speaking up" to their direct superiors.
Looking at the specific content, "suggestions for improvement regarding company policies and operational rules" was the most frequent at 22.8%. This was followed by "personal health issues or mental health concerns (21.8%)" and "consultation about heavy workload (capacity overload) or overtime (20.1%)". On the other hand, "reporting personal work errors, delays, or troubles (18.7%)" and "requests for taking paid leave or working style (18.1%)" remained relatively lower overall.
It is characteristic that "suggestions for improvement" aimed at bettering the company as a whole are more frequently mentioned than daily personal reports or procedures. This suggests a reality where constructive voices for the organization are less likely to reach the ears of superiors.
▼A more detailed explanation of this survey is available in the original article published on our operated media.
https://first-hr.jp/media/research-report006
The original article also provides detailed information with data on the following:
- 2. Reasons for not speaking up to superiors and the background of organizations where voices do not reach.
- 3. Differences in reasons for hesitating to report or consult by age group.
- 4. The impact of difficulty speaking up to superiors on work and workplace attitudes.
- 5. Behavioral changes leading to young employees leaving/transferring and mid-career employees engaging in quiet quitting.
### Survey Implementation Overview
* **Survey Institution:** In-house survey
* **Survey Method:** Internet survey (JustSystem "Fastask")
* **Target Area:** All Japan
* **Target Respondents:** 262 full-time employees aged 20-49
* **Survey Period:** March 23-25, 2026
* **Valid Responses:** 262 individuals
※ In this release, weighted aggregation is performed to match the population composition by sex and age of regular employees in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Labour Force Survey.
Unless reproducing this press release as is, when quoting the survey results, graphs, or data, please cooperate by citing the source as the link below:
https://first-hr.jp/media/research-report006
### About Professional Studio
Professional Studio's mission is to "Create an era where venture and small and medium-sized enterprises shine," and it provides comprehensive HR support services for venture and small and medium-sized enterprises.
We offer talent introduction services for management layers in venture and small to medium-sized enterprises, talent introduction services for hard-tech/deep-tech companies, and HR system design consulting and planning/development of the IT tool "FirstHR" for venture and small to medium-sized enterprises.
### Professional Studio Inc.
* **Established:** April 2020
* **Headquarters:** 1-5-20 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0028
To understand the communication barriers in the workplace and their impact, Professional Studio Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Ryutaro Ichikawa), which offers comprehensive HR support services for ventures and small to medium-sized enterprises, including HR system design consulting and IT tools for design and operation "FirstHR" (https://first-hr.jp/), conducted a survey targeting 262 full-time employees aged 20-49.
The results of this survey revealed that a large number of full-time employees feel a "difficulty speaking up" to their superiors, and this tends to cause behavioral changes that lead to organizational stagnation.
## Key Findings of This Survey
* 70% of full-time employees have experienced "difficulty speaking up" to their superiors; the most common reason is "suggestions for improvement" exceeding reporting errors or requesting paid leave.
* The most common reasons for not speaking up vary by generation: 20s cite "seems busy," 30s cite "weak relationship," and 40s cite "lack of confidence in conveying."
* Impacts differ by generation: Approximately 30% of employees in their 20s consider "leaving or transferring," while approximately 30% of those in their 30s and 40s move towards "quiet quitting."
※ For details on the survey methodology and target audience, please refer to the "Survey Implementation Overview" section below.
### Survey Results (Excerpt)
1. 70.4% of full-time employees experience "difficulty speaking up" to their superiors; the most common is "suggestions for improvement to the company," surpassing reporting errors or requesting paid leave.
In workplace communication, what kind of content do subordinates find "difficult to say" to their superiors? We asked full-time employees about their experiences in recent years where they felt it was difficult to report or consult with their direct supervisor.
Only 29.6% answered "nothing in particular," indicating that 70.4% of people have experienced some form of "difficulty speaking up" to their direct superiors.
Looking at the specific content, "suggestions for improvement regarding company policies and operational rules" was the most frequent at 22.8%. This was followed by "personal health issues or mental health concerns (21.8%)" and "consultation about heavy workload (capacity overload) or overtime (20.1%)". On the other hand, "reporting personal work errors, delays, or troubles (18.7%)" and "requests for taking paid leave or working style (18.1%)" remained relatively lower overall.
It is characteristic that "suggestions for improvement" aimed at bettering the company as a whole are more frequently mentioned than daily personal reports or procedures. This suggests a reality where constructive voices for the organization are less likely to reach the ears of superiors.
▼A more detailed explanation of this survey is available in the original article published on our operated media.
https://first-hr.jp/media/research-report006
The original article also provides detailed information with data on the following:
- 2. Reasons for not speaking up to superiors and the background of organizations where voices do not reach.
- 3. Differences in reasons for hesitating to report or consult by age group.
- 4. The impact of difficulty speaking up to superiors on work and workplace attitudes.
- 5. Behavioral changes leading to young employees leaving/transferring and mid-career employees engaging in quiet quitting.
### Survey Implementation Overview
* **Survey Institution:** In-house survey
* **Survey Method:** Internet survey (JustSystem "Fastask")
* **Target Area:** All Japan
* **Target Respondents:** 262 full-time employees aged 20-49
* **Survey Period:** March 23-25, 2026
* **Valid Responses:** 262 individuals
※ In this release, weighted aggregation is performed to match the population composition by sex and age of regular employees in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Labour Force Survey.
Unless reproducing this press release as is, when quoting the survey results, graphs, or data, please cooperate by citing the source as the link below:
https://first-hr.jp/media/research-report006
### About Professional Studio
Professional Studio's mission is to "Create an era where venture and small and medium-sized enterprises shine," and it provides comprehensive HR support services for venture and small and medium-sized enterprises.
We offer talent introduction services for management layers in venture and small to medium-sized enterprises, talent introduction services for hard-tech/deep-tech companies, and HR system design consulting and planning/development of the IT tool "FirstHR" for venture and small to medium-sized enterprises.
### Professional Studio Inc.
* **Established:** April 2020
* **Headquarters:** 1-5-20 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0028