Diversity and Inclusion

Promotion of Diversity and Inclusion

Positioned as a crucial concern under the third of the Five Management Focuses, Diversity and Inclusion (D&I,) Promotion aims at "Creating working environments where it is easy to produce results.“ The collaborative efforts of the D&I, Promotion Section, newly established in April 2024 and the D&I, Culture Creation Committee, comprising dedicated volunteer employees are focused on crafting measures. These initiatives are designed to foster a global culture that not only champions diversity but also acknowledges and respects a broad spectrum of experiences, abilities, and values.

Promotion of Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and Inclusion Project


Establishment of D&I Promotion Section in HR Department

USHIO is committed to promoting D&I in order to realize our corporate philosophy and achieve Revive Vision 2030. The D&I Project activities undertaken by USHIO to date have included understanding employee awareness and issues, continuously disseminating information using e-mail newsletters and other media, holding seminars, and improving the working environment, thereby laying the foundation for creating a comfortable work environment. In addition to D&I Promotion Section was newly established within the HR Department in April 2024 to promote D&I more speedily as part of management strategy and to achieve KPI.

The D&I Culture Creation Committee

In July 2017, we launched the Diversity Project with the aim of further promoting “management focused on each individual ”.Until 2024, management, HR, and employees, led by volunteer employees interested in D&I, have been promoting activities. In October 2024, the project was reorganized and renamed the “ D&I Culture Creation Committee” with the mission of further strengthening the cultivation of D&I culture and solidification of its foundations. The subcommittee has also been reorganized. The “Work-Life Support Subcommittee” aims to support the balancing of work and life events such as childbirth, childcare, nursing care, and medical treatment; the “Employment of Persons with Disabilities Subcommittee” aims to support the working styles of persons with disabilities, promote understanding on the part of recipients, and improve the work environment; and the “Career Support Subcommittee” aims to respect the diverse working styles of each individual, and support and improve the environment for independent thinking and autonomous action in one's career.
Each subcommittee is working to understand the current situation, consider measures, and implement them.
In the future, we will promote D&I from a wide range of perspectives, aiming to become “a company where diversity (each employee) is respected and all employees can play an active role regardless of their attributes.



D&I Promotion Initiatives

Work style reformation

Support for work-life balance (revision of handbook on support for work-life balance, revision of short-time work system)

The increasing diversity of business activities, workplaces and employees is creating a greater need for more flexibility in how people do their jobs.
In April 2024, USHIO revised its handbook on support for balancing work and childcare in order to create a comfortable work environment for employees with time constraints. This revision was intended to promote a better understanding of the system and provide an opportunity for employees to think about their life plans and careers.
In addition, the short-time work system has been revised with the aim of increasing work options according to individual circumstances.The applicable period of shortened working hours for childcare has been extended to the end of the first March after the day before the child's twelfth birthday, and the number of times an employee can apply for shortened working hours has been increased from two to three during this period.
Through diverse work styles, we aspire to fulfill the first principle of our management philosophy: "Conviction to Build Both a Prosperous Company and Prosperous Employees.“

Job Resumption Program

We launched this program in November 2015 in order to allow people; who have resigned to care for a child or parent or for some other reason, to return to Ushio. Rehiring people who have resigned for personal or other reasons makes it possible to continue using their knowledge. These experienced people can immediately make a meaningful contribution to our business operations.

Women Empowerment

On April 1, 2016, Ushio adopted a personnel system that does not take gender into account while eliminating the distinction between main career track positions and general staff positions. In addition, we are implementing various measures, such as disclosing interviews with female managers and holding roundtable discussions with female managers. Our goal is to increase the ratio of female manager to 15% in the Group and 10% in Ushio by 2026.
The average length of service for Ushio Inc. employees has consistently increased each year, and notably, the tenure of women surpasses that of men.

Promoting the Employment of People with Disabilities

Promoting Communication

An employee with a hearing impairment working at the Harima Division had difficulty communicating with supervisors and colleagues using sign language. As a part of efforts to promote communication, we started a sign language circle. This circle has spurred us to work to make more employees familiar with sign language going forward.
In addition, as a tool for communicating with employees with hearing impairments, we introduced "voice recognition software," which convert spoken language into text, and "electronic memo pads," which is an LCD board that we can directly write on.
We are striving to create working environments with safety and reassurance where employees with hearing impairments work by compiling information on points that need to be taken into consideration and announcing it to all employees.

Promoting Barrier-free

Hearing opinions of employees with disabilities, we have made our business divisions barrier-free. For example, changing the toilet door to slide to open, attaching handrails to staircases, making some parking lots reserved for the disabled employees, and installing mirrors on aisles with poor prospects.

Career Support

Career Design Seminars

To help each employee recognize his or her own strengths and points to develop, and to enable them to take on new challenges with confidence, the D&I Culture Creation Committee sponsored a career design seminar, first for female employees. The seminar started in February 2023, and by July 2024, over 180 female employees had attended the seminar, many of whom said that the seminar helped them to think about their careers. In the future, we will consider measures to help each employee, regardless of gender, to develop a career that is unique to them.

Career Interviews

As one of the measures to support each employee to envision his or her own career, we provided an opportunity to meet with an outside career consultant. Through this interview, employees were able to reflect on their own strengths and challenges that they had been unaware of, as well as their future work style and job satisfaction, and this led to measures to concretize their career visions. We will continue to strive to create a work environment where employees can play an active role throughout their lives, regardless of their attributes.

Effective Utilization of Globally-minded Talent

With approximately 70% of the Ushio Group’s sales generated overseas, we recognize the significance of diversity in our workforce. To foster sustainable growth and create new value, we actively promote the hiring of diverse talents irrespective of nationality. Since fiscal 2018, about 10 foreign nationals have already become part of our team. Moving forward, we will continue to leverage diverse talents through local hiring at both our group companies in Japan and overseas. Recognizing the importance of effective communication with individuals from various countries, backgrounds, and values, we actively engage in business promotion initiatives. To facilitate this, we are developing and utilizing global human resources through exchange programs among group companies, as well as through study abroad and trainee programs.

Compensation System Aligned with Responsibility and Achievement

At Ushio, qualifications and job levels are determined based on individual abilities and responsibilities, without regard to nationality or gender. Moreover, our commitment extends to complying with legal minimum wage standards, fostering an equitable compensation system that remains consistent across genders for individuals with the same qualifications and job levels.

Encouraging Engagement in Volunteer Activities

Ushio Inc. has instituted a leave system specifically designed to support volunteer activities. Additionally, our employees actively participate in various volunteer initiatives, with enthusiastic in-house volunteers contributing to these efforts.