Promotion of Diversity
The Tsubaki Group has undertaken systemic reforms including extending the retirement age to 65 and establishing a special subsidiary, with a focus on expanding diversity while maintaining our longstanding job-centered emphasis on the division of roles and results. The newly introduced systems and mechanisms are continuously improved as they are implemented, enhancing their effectiveness. Since FY 2018, Tsubakimoto Chain has been moving ahead with work style reforms. To offer more efficient and flexible work styles, we have introduced various measures including flexible working hours, a discretionary labor system, and a work-at-home system, and the Labor/Management Joint Committee is cooperating to reduce excessively long work hours and promote the utilization of paid vacation time. In addition, we are implementing the Tsubaki Style initiative to eliminate the use of official titles in spoken and written communication, and promoting a smart-casual dress code at workplaces other than plants, with the goal of creating a lively workplace culture.
We will continue to implement measures to create workplace environments where people of all nationalities, gender identities, and ages can enthusiastically work with the confidence that they will be evaluated fairly.
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Composition of Employees by Region
(as of March 31, 2023)
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Ratio of Paid Leave Acquisition
(Tsubakimoto Chain, non-consolidated)
Initiatives
(1) Active Participation of Women
At Tsubakimoto Chain, we have been pioneers in introducing equal wages for men and women, and we have implemented a employee management system that allows women to comfortably continue working during life events such as pregnancy and childbirth. We are aiming to further increase the percentage of women at the company (9.7% as of April 1, 2024) by actively encouraging applications from various high schools and universities. Simultaneously, we are enabling women to deepen their understanding of our work environment through efforts such as women introducing their jobs at explanatory meetings. Additionally, we are promoting the advancement of women by proactively providing opportunities for promotion to outstanding employees, regardless of gender.
We are also providing active support for balancing work with childcare. We are creating an environment that makes it easier to take childcare leave by raising awareness of the childcare leave system within the company and educating management-level employees, and are promoting work style reforms and other changes to prepare an environment that facilitates women returning to work after giving birth. As a result, the rate of return to work after taking maternity/childcare leave in FY 2023 was 92.3%. The number of male employees taking childcare leave increased significantly by 50% from the previous year (37 employees, with a leave acquisition rate of 41.6%).
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Ratio of Female Employees in Senior Roles and Number of Female Employees in Managerial Roles
(Domestic)
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Number of Employees Who Acquired Childcare Leave (Tsubakimoto Chain, non-consolidated)
FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 Women 1 5 1 3 8 Men 5 4 5 29 37
(2) Promotion of Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities
The Tsubaki Group is striving to expand work duties available for people with disabilities and create an environment where they can work together with other employees.
In 2020 we established a special subsidiary to promote the employment of people with disabilities, and we have been strengthening the support systems and actively expanding employment opportunities for them. We are working to provide people with disabilities a wide range of work roles that leverage their individual attributes, including manufacturing worksites, administrative work, facility maintenance and management, and health management. Additionally, as one part of our working support measures, we have been creating a comfortable workplace environment, including setting up a special yard area for people with disabilities (Saitama Plant), and expanding and improving special subsidiary offices (Kyotanabe Plant).
As a result, we have achieved employment levels that exceed the legally required employment ratio every year since FY 2020. However, this level is not our final goal, and we will also create working environments that are comfortable for everyone from the perspective of universal design. The employment of people with disabilities is central to our diversity efforts, and we are linking it to vitalization of the organization and fostering innovation.
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Ratio of Employees with Disabilities
An Outline of Our Special Subsidiary (Tsubaki Support Center Co.)
Tsubaki Support Center is a Tsubakimoto Chain subsidiary established primarily to handle welfare and outsourced operations. In FY 2020, it was certified as a special subsidiary of Tsubakimoto Chain, and began offering business services staffed by persons with disabilities. The company provides a comfortable working environment and jobs that allow each individual to play an active role according to their abilities and talents. It also has a support system in place that allows each employee to demonstrate his or her abilities. (It currently employs seven trainers and six disability vocation and lifestyle counselors.)
Their current duties include manufacturing, printing, data entry, scanning, and cleaning. To expand employment, we are actively accepting internships and work observation tours from special needs schools and other organizations. In FY 2023, the Kyotanabe and Saitama Plants accepted a total of 20 interns, and more than 120 persons on work observation tours. In the future, we intend to expand into the services sector. By proactively employing people with disabilities, we are fulfilling our responsibility to society.
Our initiatives have been recognized, and in 2022 we received the Kyoto Prefecture Governor’s Award for Excellent Employment of People with Disabilities, and we were certified as a Company Promoting the Employment of People with Disabilities in Kyoto Prefecture (Kyoto Heartful Company).
Tsubaki Support Center Special Enterprise
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Kyoto Prefecture Governor’s Award -
Certified as a Kyoto Heartful Company
(3) Active Participation of Seniors
At Tsubakimoto Chain, in April 2020, we introduced an Age-65 Retirement System, that extends the retirement age from 60 to 65 years old. With the introduction of a new retirement age of 65, we have also improved our treatment of older employees. As a result, we have maintained a high rate of continuous employment of 85% or more since the introduction of the system. The content of career training conducted at the milestone age of 50 have also been updated, and have been revised to encourage people to maintain their desire to work and to continue learning until age 65.
(4) Expanding the Employment of Non-Japanese
We have been striving to expand the employment of non-Japanese employees to introduce diverse ways of thinking that stimulate innovation and business growth. Our target for FY 2030 is to employ 85 non-Japanese (29 non-Japanese employees at the company and one Executive Officer as of March 31, 2024.)
The global operations of our company are introduced to students at corporate internship briefings, and the number of non-Japanese interns increased by 25% from the previous fiscal year. We are also actively carrying out an initiative aimed at accepting interns from overseas universities.
Topics
Renovating the Headquarters and Osaka Office Based on the Theme of Mixing
In October 2023, we expanded the floor space and completly renovated the Headquarters and Osaka Office. We also consolidated a portion of the Headquarters Operations which had previously been working at the Kyotanabe Plant. In addition to facilitating prompt communication from management, the purpose is to generate innovation by mixing people together, including management and employees, personnel from different divisions, and members from various generations.
We reimagined the conventional concepts of offices as workplaces, and improved the layout and furnishings to stimulate communication and improve engagement. By creating an environment that produces more active workplace communication, we will improve productivity, promote the application of creativity, and achieve the goals of Long-term Vision 2030.
Plant Observation Tour of OMRON KYOTO TAIYO Co., Ltd., a Pioneer in Employment of People with Disabilities
Tsubakimoto Chain is working to learn from the excellent initiatives of other companies related to employment of people with disabilities. In FY 2023, we extended invitations to Group companies and conducted a tour of OMRON KYOTO TAIYO. We gained valuable insights into working environment and work method improvements from the perspective of people with disabilities, as well as the implementation of universal manners in the manufacturing workplace. We are also focusing on the employment of people with mental disabilities, and this tour enhanced our understanding of how to promote the employment of people with disabilities.
This experience reaffirmed for us that creating a comfortable work environment for disabled persons also empowers a diverse range of human resources including seniors and foreign nationals.
