• CEO Message
• Promotion of DE&I
• Concrete Actions

• Advancement of People with Disabilities
• Drawing on Global Talent
• Workforce Composition and Service Period

Epson’s customers are the people who use our products and services around the world. I hope that we will enrich the lives of as many people as possible by understanding them in all their diversity and delivering new value that surprises and delights them. To achieve this, we must create an environment in which we recognize and accept each other's differences and must value diversity. For us to be a company that can flexibly and sustainably grow for a decade and beyond, I will create a corporate culture that enables all employees to enjoy work and participate equally in discussions, regardless of their background. A free and open workplace is the foundation that will enable Epson to fulfill its social mission. To that end, I will respect and practice diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).

We aim to understand our diverse customers and continue creating new value that surprises and delights them in this time of rapid change. To achieve this, we will create a fair and bias-free environment in which individuals of all backgrounds gather from all over the world, respect each other, enjoy work, conduct themselves as responsible members of society, and continue driving innovation by taking on challenges and growing along with the company. We also believe that DE&I is important from the perspective of respect for human rights.
We recognize that gender equality is an urgent issue in Japan. To promptly achieve a state where the ratio of women in executive and managerial positions is equal to the ratio of women in our workforce, we are taking measures to increase the number of female candidates for managers by helping women develop their careers. We are also creating an environment in which employees can enjoy work and have job satisfaction while adapting to changes in their life.
Another priority issue is to promote the advancement of people with disabilities. We want to enable people with disabilities to contribute to the company’s performance by taking on challenges and continuing to grow.

From the Empowerment of Women to DE&I

In 2016, Seiko Epson created a Female Empowerment Project team in the Human Resources Department to transform the company into one that has an environment where women can keep working until retirement age. The project team was dissolved in October 2020, and a Diversity and Inclusion Project that reports directly to the president was launched to support employees who want to advance their careers, regardless of gender, and to advance general diversity initiatives. In April 2023, a DE&I Strategic Promotion Department was established in the Human Capital & Well-Being Management Division to expand the scope of DE&I activities to the entire Group.

Action Policy

We will quickly achieve a state where women are evenly positioned at each level. To do so, we will eliminate existing gender gaps and prevent new gaps.

Revision of the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace (a three-year plan for FY2023-25)

• Aim to have female employees account for 8% of management positions and 10% of leadership roles (equivalent to assistant manager) by March 2026.
• Recruit new graduates, with a goal of securing at least 25% women.
• Encourage employees to take at least 20 days of paid leave per year.
• Aim to achieve 100% childcare leave rate for both men and women.

We are implementing the measures below for women.

Career training for female leaders

A survey and other data show that there is a misconception that women cannot serve in a managerial position unless they conform to a standardized image of leadership that has traditionally been shaped by men. Since FY2023, we have been conducting training that helps women understand diverse leadership styles, recognize their own strengths, and encourage them to take on the challenge of becoming managers.

Career support for veteran female employees

There is a clear gender gap in promotions among mid-career employees and above. So, since FY2021, we have been providing support for women aged 40 and over to encourage them to take promotion exams. In a career training, participants look back over their own careers. Portable skill-up training enables women to improve their skills. In addition, to improve the writing skills and presentation skills required for the promotion exam, we offer an essays seminar and an interview seminar.

Measures for young women using external mentoring services

A survey showed that young women have a different vision about career advancement than young men. One of the reasons is that women have few female role models. This prevents them from envisioning their future careers and taking on challenges. To help young women, we provide them with opportunities to think about their careers through mentoring with external role models, career training, and discussions with internal managers. We also hold discussions among young women in the company to provide an opportunity to get to know each other.

Action Policy

We will draft and execute measures to create an environment in which employees can enjoy work and have job satisfaction while adapting to changes in their lives.

Specific actions are as below.

Support for balancing between work and childcare

Many employees say that they are struggling to balance family affairs and work, and that they do not have role models around them. Focusing on employees who balance childcare and elder care with work, we post on our intranet articles about interviews with role models to provide information for employees who are aiming to balance their careers with their private lives.
We also hold parent seminars for employees who are going to become parents or are raising children. We provide opportunities for the participants to share concerns on a wide range of topics and cheer up each other. We take up issues such as mindset in a pre-childcare leave period and ideas for balancing work and childcare after returning to work.

Support for balancing between work and elder care

A company-wide questionnaire showed that many employees are concerned about balancing elder care and work. In addition to setting up an internal and external help desks for elder care, we posted more than 40 short videos on the company intranet so that employees can obtain the necessary information on things such as remote care and finances. In FY2023, we conducted diversity management training for all Group managers to learn how to balance elder care and work.

Paternity leave promotion activities

We want our employees to be equally involved in childcare regardless of gender and want to enable them to balance work with their childcare responsibilities. To achieve this, we are working to foster a climate where all employees take childcare leave as a given. As a first step, Epson set a target of all eligible employees taking childcare leave in line with the revised Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members. The rate of male employees who took paternity leave was 97.2% in FY2022 and 85.2% in FY2023. We will continue to work to increase the number of paternity leave days taken by male employees. The goal is a 100% acquisition rate.

Introduction of leave systems for fertility treatment

We are working to create an environment in which people can balance fertility treatment and work with peace of mind. We recognize that there are three major issues regarding the treatment: mental strain, scheduling of hospital visits, and physical strain. As a first step to address these issues, we created in FY2022 a Life Support leave system to expand the provision of special leaves. Employees can use Life Support leave to take five days of paid leave a year and Life Support leave of absence to take a total of 365 days of leave over the three years. We will promote understanding of infertility and fertility treatment in the workplace and raise awareness to prevent harassment so that we can create a climate where the leave system is casually used.

Work-from-home system

The work-from-home system was first introduced to support people who need to balance work and childcare or elder care. Application of the system has now expanded to all employees with more choices of work location, enabling flexible arrangements.

Babysitter subsidy

From October 2005, we have offered subsidies for babysitting services. We have gradually increased the subsidy, and currently we pay the full amount for up to 16 hours.

Help for employees with children on nursery school waiting lists

A growing number of children in recent years have been put on waiting lists for childcare services not only in the Tokyo area but also in Nagano Prefecture, where our main offices are located. Therefore, we are promoting a partnership with company-led nursery schools in the areas where employees live. (There were eight schools as of July 2024.)

Action Policy

We will promote change in the mind-set of employees so that DE&I becomes a foundation for business activities. We will also expand DE&I initiatives across the entire Group.

Specific actions are explained below.

Senior executive messages

Management communicates policies and ideas both internally and externally to demonstrate the importance of DE&I.

Diversity management training

To raise awareness among managers and deepen their understanding of DE&I, we conducted mandatory diversity training for all managers in the Group in FY2021. Starting from FY2022, we incorporate key DE&I items into annual training for newly appointed managers.
・FY2022: "Work in Life in Managers” Learn about how to work as diverse managers
・FY2023: Training for a healthy balance between work and elder care
・FY2024: “What is the necessary step for achieving advancement of people with disabilities in Epson?”

DE&I fair

We hold a DE&I fair for all Group employees to create opportunities to think about and increase understanding of the meaning and purpose of DE&I in Epson. At the fourth meeting in FY2023, we held lectures by top management, celebrities, and management from other companies on the theme of “Why Epson Needs Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” We also hold round-table discussions about advancement of people with disabilities and work reforms, as well as workshops on other topics. Photo contests and senryu contests were also held to encourage employees to casually participate in the fair.

Communication using a dedicated DE& I web site

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion special website was made public to communicate the thoughts of the Group CEO on DE&I and corporate initiatives. It includes things such as an interview of the Group CEO with a DE&I specialist, an interview with employees, and the DE&I fair.

Percentage of women in workplace and in management

^*Manager is section manager and department manager.

Epson recognizes the active participation of people with disabilities as one of its important DE&I issues. We aim to be a company in which people can contribute to the company’s performance by taking on challenges and continuing to grow regardless of whether they have disabilities. We are working to recruit people with disabilities throughout the Group, with 3.0% of our workforce will comprise of people with disabilities in FY2030. We are also fostering a culture where people with disabilities can advance by creating various opportunities and communicating relevant information.

Concrete Actions

・Provide more opportunities for people with disabilities at special subsidiaries and share the knowledge within the Group.
・Foster an inclusive climate.
- Hold discussions with people with disabilities and have management visit special subsidiaries.
- Internally distribute lecture videos and issue company newsletter articles.
・Provide counseling for people with disabilities.

Epson was a pioneer in setting up special subsidiaries in Japan. It established Epson Mizube in 1983 and Epson Swan in 2001, steadily increasing the number of employees with disabilities. Work is prepared and assigned according to the type of disability based on the experience and knowledge that have been accumulated over 40 years. New businesses have also been developed to create an environment in which people with disabilities can make the most of their abilities and aptitudes. We will introduce programs that can help people with disabilities achieve individual growth.

Epson Mizube Corporation

Epson Mizube employs 163 people with disabilities (as of June 1, 2024). Its employees are working in offices, manufacturing sites, environmental recycling departments, and other fields in six business sites.
Facilities cleaning services, which were launched in 2008, have grown into a core business of Epson Mizube. There are 64 cleaning crews as of March 2024. In addition, a PaperLab upcycling model line has expanded employment opportunities for people with disabilities since 2017. Employees on the line sort used paper, operate the PaperLab systems, and create business cards, notebooks, and other items using the paper produced in the system. It is planning to expand office assistance work in anticipation of increasing the recruitment of people with mental disabilities.

Epson Swan Corporation

Located on the grounds of Tohoku Epson, Epson Swan employs 26 people with disabilities (as of June 1, 2024) to clean cleanroom suits and provide facilities cleaning services within Tohoku Epson. In October 2020, the staff also began preparing materials (sorting paper) for processing with PaperLabs.
Cleanroom suit cleaning has been a part of Epson Swan’s operations since its founding. It provides this service to multiple Seiko Epson sites as well as to other local companies.

Epson actively recruits and utilizes overseas human resources. Using the same role evaluation tool as is used in Japan, we measure the size and weight of responsibilities that accompany each position in Epson Group companies overseas. Key positions are identified and their roles and requirements are specified. Then, through 360-degree evaluations and other means, we collect information about all potential candidates and their capabilities so that we can select the most appropriate people for each position, regardless of age, gender, nationality, and so forth. This information is used to conduct the same type of human resources reviews as are performed in Japan, ascertain personnel needs, and review succession plans.
As a result of these actions, Epson now has home-grown talent in leadership positions at its overseas affiliates. The CEO of Epson's regional head office in the US is an American who owns responsibility for all administrative and business operations at Epson companies in North, Central, and South America. The regional head office in Southeast Asia is also headed by a local who is responsible for sales operations in the region. In Europe, all local affiliates controlled by the regional head office are headed by locals, and a number of Epson sales and manufacturing affiliates around the globe have also recruited or promoted locals to run their operations. Currently, 38% of directors at overseas affiliates are non-Japanese, while 63% of those affiliates' CEOs are non-Japanese. 90% of management positions are filled by locally hired employees.

Global Incubation Seminar (GIS)

The Global Incubation Seminar (GIS) is a training program for next-generation leaders at the Group companies around the world. We share Epson’s corporate purpose and value creation story to help them understand the roles of their own organization and develop their ability to address issues. The GIS was first held in 1999. More than 400 people were invited, many of whom served in managerial positions in our overseas affiliates.
In FY2023, 25 people from 14 countries took the one-week seminar. The program included things such as a visit to business sites, business strategy briefings by chief operating officers, and an Epson Values Session. In this session, participants deepened their understanding of the corporate purpose, value creation story, and the Epson Way (the Management Philosophy, Principles of Corporate Behavior, etc.) that represents the shared values and expectations of conduct in the Epson Group. They also devised and declared actions that they take to further enhance Epson's value. In addition, through talks with executives, they learned more about the corporate vision and business strategies. The participants work in different regions, functions, and businesses. So, they shared the problems they each face and what they are doing to overcome them. After the seminar, participants commented that they gained a deep understanding of the importance of company values and corporate culture, as well as the importance of linking their values to Epson's values to achieve targets. They also said that they learned how to support their team to enable it to take ownership and fulfill its role.
One month after the face-to-face seminar, an online follow-up seminar was held, where participants presented the results of their efforts in their workplaces and shared issues.
We will continue to provide this training program in the future. Our aim is to further extend the abilities of diverse human resources in countries and regions around the world so that they become the driving force behind the next generation of Epson.

Employees sent to Japan for training