Social
Diversity
Policies and Basic Approach
In the Mitsui & Co. group, employees who come from a wide variety of backgrounds play active roles globally.
Our aim is for every member of our diverse workforce, regardless of their place of employment or gender, to recognize and respect each other and inspire each other to exert their capabilities to the fullest, bringing new value and innovation to our business.
We also respect human rights and prohibit discrimination.
Diversity Management Goals and Action Policies
Goals and Targets
- Our policies are designed to support the success of our diverse human resources, regardless of gender, nationality, age, and disabilities. We are fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion that accepts and respects diversity.
Specific Approaches
- Human resources development for the success and deployment of diverse talent (human resource development approach)
Specific measures: Promotion of senior success, career support for female employees, support for employees based in overseas branches and offices, support for people with disabilities - Encourage an organizational culture that makes the most of diverse backgrounds and points of view (approach to the organization)
Specific measures: Organizational development through the Mitsui Engagement Survey, holding D&I Week, and conducting activities within each organization through D&I ambassadors. - Demonstrate results and achievements through work-life management
Specific measures: Workforce Management: Labor Standards/Working Environment: Initiatives
Performance Index and Progress
| Performance Index | Progress |
|---|---|
| 10% female managers by 2025 | Ratio of female managers: 8.5% (non-consolidated; as of March 2023) |
| Achieve 3% ratio of employees with disabilities | Ratio of employees with disabilities: 3.16% (as of June 2023) |
Sustainability Governance and Oversight
Diversity Management Promotion Framework
Collaborating with Stakeholders
Participation in Initiatives
We are promoting and expanding our efforts for diversity through participation in initiatives. Our participation in each initiative is decided after confirming that it is consistent with our basic policy on diversity.
Japan Business Federation (Keidanren)
Mitsui is a member of various Keidanren committees, including the following:
- Committee on Population Issues, which works to take measures to tackle the issue of Japan's declining birthrate
- Committee on Diversity & Inclusion, which works to realize further diversity and a society in which a diverse workforce, including women, can actively participate
Keidanren's "Challenge to 30% by 2030"
Keidanren's "Challenge to 30% by 2030" appears in its New Growth Strategy that it announced in November 2020. The challenge set an aspirational target for 30% or more of executives to be women by 2030, and seeks to create a movement to achieve this specific target. Our Company declared its support for this challenge in March 2021.
Keidanren's "Challenge to 30% by 2030" (in Japanese only) (PDF 1.59MB)
Initiatives
Career Opportunities for Women
Training Diverse Female Leaders
Since the fiscal year ended March 2020, we have held the Women Leadership Initiative to develop diverse role models as a sustained effort to provide a tailwind to the next-generation of female line manager candidates. The program included lectures about the organizational development, leadership and an assessment system designed to encourage participants to explore their inner-potential. We also introduced a mentoring scheme and created opportunities for dialogue with senior management. To date, a total of 48 female employees have attended the programs, which have been held a total of four times. In addition, starting in the fiscal year ended March 2022, members of the Executive Committee are conducting one-year sponsorship programs for female employees who are candidates for senior leadership positions, offering career advice and guidance, and connecting participants to stretch assignments (work opportunities with links to next-level challenges). Through these efforts, we are promoting the steady advancement of female leaders across a wide range of activities.
We are also increasing our recruitment of female career staff, including both mid-career and new graduates. They will form an expanded pool of talent to become the next generation of female executives.
Proportion and Representation of Female Managers
Mentorship Program
Our initiatives to encourage career advancement for diverse talent include the introduction of a long-term mentoring program for participants in the Change Leader Program and Women Leadership Initiative. Employees who combine leadership with a strong awareness of the need to accept diversity are selected as mentors. Through regular dialogue with these mentors, participants are encouraged to perceive themselves as leaders that can bring new business values to the organization.
Support for Female Employees Transferred Overseas
As areas of activity for Mitsui employees expand, an increasing number of female business staff members are taking up overseas postings accompanied by children. Employees in this situation have individual meetings with other employees who have experience with overseas work in tandem with childcare. Mitsui also provides a full range of support for staff members with preschool children who take up overseas assignments unaccompanied by their spouses, including subsidies for daycare and babysitting.
Number of Female Employees Dispatched Overseas (As of April 1, 2023)
| Region name | Number of people | Cities/area |
|---|---|---|
| North America | 15 | New York, Houston, Chicago, Irving, Vancouver, Colombia, Berkeley, Los Angeles |
| Central and South America | 18 | Monterrey, Mexico City, Bogotá, Lima, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Buenos Aires |
| Europe | 16 | London, Oslo, Dublin, Paris, Dusseldorf, Vlissingen, Brussels, Londerzeel, Milan, Tel Aviv |
| Middle East | 6 | Dubai |
| Asia | 27 | Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi, New Delhi |
| Oceania | 7 | Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane |
| Far East | 15 | Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Taipei |
| CIS | 3 | Moscow, Tashkent |
Promotion of Career Development for Global Talent
Development and Promotion of Regionally Hired Staff
Change Leader Program
We have held our Change Leader Program (CLP) since 2018. CLP is an initiative to identify, diverse talent on a global basis, and develop them into leaders who can actively and boldly promote necessary changes. In this program, regionally hired staff selected from around the world engage in dialogue with top management at the Head Office, intensive discussions on various topics such as leadership and Long-Term Management Vision, as well as setting their own "stretch assignments" or challenging tasks, in consultation with the sponsor business units. In November 2022, 12 participants took part in a combination of advance online sessions and face-to-face sessions in Japan. A total of 55 participants have joined the past four sessions, leading to various work assignments and appointment opportunities. Going forward, we will continue our efforts to support leadership training, creating value, demonstrating our comprehensive strength, forming on-site commitments, and networking for change.
Mentorship Program
Our initiatives to encourage career advancement for diverse talent include the introduction of a long-term mentoring program for participants in the Change Leader Program. We have also introduced the mentor system in overseas offices, such as the Americas Business Unit. Through these initiatives, we are fostering a corporate culture in which talent is developed through communication with diverse mentors.
Promotions to Executive Positions
An increasing number of regionally hired staff members are being promoted to managerial positions, in line with our commitment to training regionally hired staff members in each region and strengthening our pool of human resources and locally-originated business. Starting with the appointment of a locally-hired employee to managing director for the first time at Mitsui India in April 2020, progress is being made in appointing local employees to line managers and other key positions. We provide training for all employees and opportunities for internal transfers between overseas business sites, including affiliated companies. Through these initiatives, diverse human resources are contributing to the enhancement of our organizational potential and the achievement of business results. Diverse talent is also placed in management positions in affiliated companies and they play critical roles in our consolidated management. We will continue to train and promote foreign nationals through a variety of initiatives on a global basis.
Transfers between Overseas Countries
Number of Regionally Hired Staff Transferred between Overseas Countries
Appointing personnel with a thorough knowledge of each country and region is essential to developing business with deep local roots in order to capture every business opportunity while adapting flexibly to ever-changing business environments. We are driving further diversification forward to ensure that the right people can work in the right place on a global basis, regardless of nationality or location of recruitment. We are increasingly providing employees with opportunities not only for training in Japan, but also for transferring to other overseas offices, including affiliated companies, in addition to offices in other countries in the same region.
In October 2022, we established the Global Mobility Program (a transfer process for employees hired overseas) to standardize the conditions and processes for overseas transfers throughout the world, including those to Japan, and implemented it for transferees from April 2023. We will continue to support the globalization of human resources in the Mitsui & Co. global group, while verifying the effectiveness and advantages of this policy.
Training and Transfer to Japan
Personnel Sent to Japan (Trends in program enrollments as of the end of each fiscal year)
Regionally hired staff selected for training as next-generation leaders are sent to Japan on various programs. They are given opportunities to study the Japanese language and Japanese business practices and experience Japanese work styles, while learning about other aspects of Japan, such as its culture and history. Their training is targeted toward their development as management personnel who will one day play key roles in Mitsui & Co. global group management. In addition to opportunities to network with people within and beyond Mitsui & Co. global group, the program is also designed to enable participants to build lifelong relationships by inspiring and being inspired by other talented people who are gathered in Japan for the same purpose. The program to dispatch regionally hired staff to Japan started in the early 2000s. Since then, a total of 217 people have participated in various programs in Japan (Japan Language and Business Program (LBP), Business Integration Program (BIP), transfers, etc.). The Mitsui & Co. global group will continue to implement these programs going forward.
Support for Employees Who Are Citizens of Countries Other Than Japan
Mitsui & Co. group has excellent human resources with a variety of nationalities in many countries and regions around the world and encourages them to play active roles in developing business that is closely connected with individual regions. In order to boost global group management, Mitsui brings employees to Japan on job transfers and training, and supports human resources development and the establishment of human networks within the group.
Supporting the Active Participation of Senior Personnel
While Mitsui supports for its employees to design their own career development path, in the context of senior personnel, we provide various training opportunities as well as individual interviews customized for those seniors. Also, Mitsui has the "re-employment system" which enables employees to work up to the age of 65, even after the mandatory retirement age of 60. As such, we strive to build a better workplace where they can actively utilize their work experiences, knowledge, and skills even after the mandatory retirement age. We also provide supports to those who wish to work outside the company according to their individual career choice.
Initiatives to Support the Careers of Senior Employees to Enable Them to Play Active Roles Within and Outside the Company
| Provision of information |
If they so wish, employees aged 50 or over can have interviews to discuss their career development going forward, preparations for retirement, and Mitsui's systems (e.g., retirement payments, pensions, support for retirees, reemployment contract) in accordance with the information they are seeking. Through these interviews, employees also receive advice and information on specific topics, such as surveys of the post-retirement re-employment market. (Approximately 200 interviews are held per year.) Seven months before reaching retirement age, employees attend seminars about systems and procedures. (Held four times per year for a total of approximately 130 employees.) If they wish, employees can also attend individual follow-up meetings. |
|---|---|
| Training |
Senior employee training for Business staff members when they are between the ages of 48 and 52, and again when they are between the ages of 54 and 58, and for Administrative staff members when they are between the ages of 52 and 56. These sessions provide employees with opportunities to learn about public and corporate systems, to take stock of their own values and strengths, and to gain information and engage in group discussions about work-style options. Training is also offered to employees in their 30s, where they have the opportunity to take stock of their careers (Held 16 times in the fiscal year ended March 2024 with a total of 356 participants.) |
| Support for active participation within the company |
|
| Support for activities outside the company |
|
Supporting People with Special Needs
In order to fulfill its corporate social responsibilities, and as part of its efforts to promote diversity and inclusion, Mitsui is working to expand the quantity and quality of employment opportunities for people with various types of disabilities. In this area, we work closely with Mitsui & Co. Business Partners Ltd. (MBP), which was established in 1981 as a trailblazing special-purpose subsidiary.
For over 20 years, Mitsui has exceeded the statutory rate for the employment of people with disabilities, and as of June 2023 our rate stood at 3.16%. We have set a target of 3.0% for 2023, when the statutory rate was expected to be revised, and we were aiming for further expansion of employment opportunities but achieved it in 2020.
Mitsui has made various qualitative improvements to provide people with opportunities to contribute according to their ability levels, without limiting areas of activity based on whether or not people have disabilities. In addition to general administrative duties, such as printing, mail, and office layout management, people with disabilities are employed in an extremely wide range of areas, such as operations relating to personnel management, payroll, and benefit programs, and the arrangement of business travel. We will continue our efforts to create working environments in which people with various disabilities can achieve success and growth in the same workspace with other employees of MBP and Mitsui, and to develop and expand areas of work.
Initiatives by the entire Mitsui & Co. group include an annual seminar and information sharing event for affiliated companies on the promotion of employment for people with disabilities. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, 71 people from 41 companies attended the seminar, with Mitsui & Co. Business Partners, Ltd. as the guest lecturer. Through lectures on inclusion from the perspective of people with disabilities together with specific examples of how to achieve inclusion post-employment, participants learned about shifting individual mindsets and ways of thinking, and deepened their understanding of creating an inclusive environment and a society where everyone can live with peace of mind, regardless of whether or not they have a disability.
We will continue our efforts to eliminate barriers to engagement in society for people with disabilities by qualitatively and quantitatively promoting employment for people with disabilities across the entire Mitsui & Co. group, and by developing environments in which diverse people can work together in the spirit of mutual respect to create value in various ways.
Trends in the Percentage of People with Disabilities in Mitsui's Workforce (As of June 1 of each year)
Promoting Understanding of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
We have implemented measures that enable all employees to fully exhibit their capabilities in playing active roles regardless of SOGI (sexual orientation/gender identity) out of our belief that gaining a proper understanding of LGBTQ* is important. As a part of our efforts, we are focusing on raising awareness among employees and improving the office environment.
* LGBTQ is an abbreviation of L = Lesbian, G = Gay, B = Bisexual, T = Transgender, Q = Questioning/Queer
Fostering Employee Awareness
Mitsui is working to ensure full compliance with its Business Conduct Guidelines for Employees and Officers, which specifically prohibit discriminatory and insulting behavior based on sexual orientation or sexual identity. A handbook (Japanese only), which was compiled using expert advice, has been posted on the company intranet to foster understanding among employees of the Guidelines, and D&I ambassadors hold sessions to discuss LGBTQ issues as part of activities to raise employee awareness. LGBTQ issues are also covered in other educational activities, such as training prior to overseas transfers. These activities give employees opportunities to think about mutual consideration when working with people who have different value systems.
Enhancement of Internal Systems
The same-sex partnership system was formulated in February 2023 and implemented in April 2023. By treating same-sex partners as spouses, we promote the encouragement of career choices desired by the partners themselves in terms of internal systems, such as moving into company housing with a same-sex partner or accompanying the partner on domestic transfers.
Enhancement of Working Environments
We have established a contact point for consultation about LGBTQ-related issues as part of our initiatives to create working environments in which people can overcome problems and work well in an atmosphere of respect for personal identity, including sexual identity. Since the fiscal year ended March 2020, we have in place an external contact point in addition to the in-house one in order to create an advice system that is more considerate of people's privacy. We are also improving our facilities, including the provision of multi-purpose restrooms in the Head Office building and other branches.
