• Why We Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• CEO Message
• Closing the Gender Gap

• Drawing on Global Talent
• Employing and Supporting Persons with Disabilities
• Workforce Composition and Service Period

Epson believes that diversity, equity and inclusion are essential to the practical observation of the Epson Group's Management Philosophy and to continuous innovation.
We want to 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.

Epson's customers are the people around the world who use our products and services. To fulfill our goal of enriching the lives of as many people as possible, we must understand these diverse customers and deliver new value that surprises and delights them, and to do that, we must be diverse ourselves. An environment where differences are acknowledged, accepted, and respected is essential. Without it, we could not take advantage of that diversity. To sustain corporate growth, we must develop a corporate culture in which all employees can enjoy working and can participate in discussions as equals, regardless of background. I believe that such a workplace is indispensable for a company seeking to address and solve societal issues. In other words, the foundations for creating a free and open workplace are mutual respect and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Seiko Epson has long been an equal opportunity employer. In 1983, Seiko Epson eliminated the gender pay gap and has sought to enable employees to enjoy a good work-life balance by providing leaves of absence, shorter workdays for women with young children, and financial assistance to help defray babysitter expenses. These and other actions have met with some success, as women stay with the company longer than men, on average. However, there is still a gender gap when it comes to promotion to management and other leadership positions in Japan. Seiko Epson recognizes this as an issue and is continuing to make improvements. We will move forward on additional actions to ensure that all employees have an opportunity to shine.

Seiko Epson has introduced measures to promote more women and close the gender gap. We aim to enable all employees to live up to their full potential, regardless of gender or other attributes. The goal is to have women at every level of management, and for this to happen organically.

In 2016, Seiko Epson created a Female Empowerment Project team in the Human Resources Department to create a climate of support for employees who want to advance their careers, regardless of gender. The project team was dissolved in October 2020, and a Diversity and Inclusion Project that reports directly to the president was launched.

Plans for promoting women's participation and advancement in the workplace

• We are aiming to have female employees account for 5% (40 people) of management positions and 7% (350 people) of leadership roles (equivalent to assistant manager) by FY2022.
• We are increasing the pool of candidates to increase the number of women in management positions in the future.
• We will recruit new graduates, with a goal of securing a hiring class composed of at least 25% women.
• We will expand and enhance a variety of policies and measures to enable women to shape their long-term careers at Epson. (For example, we will provide them with opportunities for discussions and encourage them to participate in management and leadership training seminars.)

We will expand work from home and other more flexible work arrangements.

<Unconscious bias>

Senior executive messages
Epson's senior executives stress the importance of diversity at bi-annual Group policy meetings. They arrange discussions to speak with women employees, and the president communicates company policies and his thoughts about diversity and the advancement of women through messages posted on the company intranet.

Diversity and inclusion training
To drive home the importance of diversity and to build awareness of the critical role that unconscious bias plays in hindering diversity, we had all employees of Seiko Epson and its domestic affiliates take on an online course in unconscious bias in 2020 and an online course in the fundamentals of diversity and inclusion in 2021.
(The online course in unconscious bias: 18680 participants / participation rate 95%. The online course in the fundamentals of diversity an inclusion: 17790 participants / participation rate 91%, as of the end of July 2022)

Diversity management training
We began diversity training for all managers in the Epson Group. The aim is to change the prevailing mind-set, teach the importance of diversity and inclusion, and ensure psychological safety. This content will also be built into the training curriculum for new managers.

<Diversification of work arrangements>

span class="_bold">Performance evaluation system that does not put time-constrained employees at a disadvantage
The criteria for evaluating employees who work a full day and employees who work shorter hours are identical. This was done to ensure a level playing field when it comes to advancement and promotions, even for individuals whose working hours are limited for personal reasons. Employees are evaluated based on their achievements with respect to goals that are considered achievable within their respective workdays.

Remote work system for child-rearing and nursing/caregiving employees
Seiko Epson introduced a system in FY2018 that gives time-constrained employees the opportunity to work from home so that they can provide care to dependents, including children and other sick or ill family members. In 2020, the work from home option was expanded to encompass all employees. Those with child-rearing and nursing/caregiving responsibilities can work from home flexibly on an hourly, half-day, or per-day basis. For example, parents can leave work during regular working hours as needed to participate in school events. Or, when their child gets sick, they can work a certain minimum number of hours while their children are sleeping. Whereas parents previously may have had to take paid leave for these situations, they now can work more flexibly around them. Employees can also work remotely from approved locations outside the home, providing even greater flexibility.

Fathers' involvement in childcare
For working mothers to fully participate and advance in the workplace, their partners must share the burden for housework and childcare. There has been an increase in recent years in the number of men who want to be more actively involved in raising and caring for their children. Seiko Epson thus created a paternity leave guidebook in 2014 and posted it on the company intranet. We also encourage fathers to be more involved in childcare by sharing stories from men who have taken paternity leave. Moreover, the subject of paternal engagement is taken up at length in mandatory diversity management training for managers.
Our goal in FY2022 is for 100% of eligible fathers to take paternity leave.

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.

Seminar to retain employee caregivers
To help employees understand public and private caregiving options and to prepare them for risks associated with the emergence of sudden caregiving responsibilities, we invite experts to give seminars for working caregivers so that they can stay in the workforce.
In addition, we have introduced group long-term care insurance as part of the benefits package to help cover caregiving costs. We also hold seminars on caregiving costs to ease the minds of employees facing a caregiving situation.

Exploration of work arrangements
We have expanded the purposes for which employees may take wellbeing leave. Now parents can take time off to care for their children when schools temporarily close or to help their children get gradually accustomed to daycare.
Furthermore, a labor-management subcommittee on work arrangements is exploring changes that will give time-constrained employees who have childcare or nursing/caregiving responsibilities more work flexibility.

<Lack of growth opportunities>

Promotion examination system
To be eligible for promotion exams, employees formerly had to write a dissertation and pass a written exam in the same year. Since a considerable amount of time was needed to write the dissertation and prepare for the written exam, employees who had limited free time faced additional challenges. Another stumbling block was that employees who qualified to take the exam had to do so (and pass) within a three-year period, after which eligibility expired, so those taking maternity leave could end up losing eligibility.
To remove these obstacles and make it easier for time-constrained employees to gain promotion, we changed the system, in April 2018. We eliminated the expiration period and made it so that employees could maintain eligibility even if they pass only certain test subjects over a multi-year period. In October 2020, we made it even easier for time-constrained employees to try to earn promotion and ascend the grade scale by recognizing the writing of a dissertation as an opportunity for professional development and allowing them to write their dissertation and take the written exam during work hours.

<Other>

Advisory service for women
We have installed a career counseling service for women employees who are having trouble envisioning their career path or who are otherwise undecided about their future career. This service puts them into contact with a female mentor who can help them think positively about their career at Epson. We also have a health consultation service for women who wish to speak with an occupational physician or qualified obstetric nurse.

Infertility treatment
We have made it possible for employees to take wellbeing leave for fertility treatment.

Help for employees with children on 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 seven schools as of July 2022.)

Promotion of hiring & retention - interviews with third-year employees
The Human Resources Department interviews young employees who joined the company right out of school and are in their third year with the company to help them quickly improve their effectiveness and to encourage retention. By listening to their concerns about work, the work environment, and their career design, and by following up with them and their workplace, we have seen an increase in retention rate.

Networking - dialog between executive management and female employees
Seiko Epson will continue to hold meetings between members of the executive management team and female employees. These meetings are designed to create a mutual support environment and help women network with female managers, manager candidates, and other employees who share similar concerns at around age 30. In the 2021 fiscal year, discussions were held between female employees (31 in total) and the president on six occasions, while women also met to discuss issues with an outside director. Members of executive management who participate in these meetings learn first-hand about the needs of women in the workplace, such as the ability to work from home during the childrearing years and availability of a temporary day care space in emergencies. These talks lead to the development of actual trials and the creation of new programs.
The network of female employees is expanding through programs such as dialog sessions among women at the same site or in the same or different business. Now, women who met through dialog sessions are sharing their concerns with one another and communicating about career design and work-life balance support.

Future Initiatives to Close the Gender Gap

Seiko Epson will roll out further actions to expand the career advancement possibilities for women and increase diversity.

Percentage of women in workplace and in management（All affiliated companies/domestic affiliated companies/Seiko Epson）

^* Managers means all managers including junior manager level (e.g. leaders, supervisors)

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, 37% of directors at overseas affiliates are non-Japanese, while 60% of those affiliates' CEOs are non-Japanese.

The Global Incubation Seminar (GIS)

The Global Incubation Seminar (GIS) is a program for developing global leaders who will be a driving force in the Epson Group. At the seminar, we share Epson's vision and values with up-and-coming leaders from around the world and empower them to put these into practice in their own organizations. Since 1999, the first year of the program, more than 380 people have participated in GIS training and nearly all the chief executives of Epson's overseas affiliates are graduates of the program.

Global Executive Seminar (GES)

In FY2017, Epson launched the inaugural Global Executive Seminar (GES) to further strengthen executive management at overseas affiliates. The seminar is designed to develop leaders who are capable of devising strategies and analyzing issues, leaders who can help guide us toward Epson’s long-term goals, understand the roles that they and their companies should play, and identify changes to make in a business environment where the future is hard to read. The seminar starts with a three-day group training session (session 1) and is followed by a year-long period during which participants apply lessons in actual practice, after which they gather to report the results over two days (session 2).

Six people (four overseas affiliate members and two employees from Japan) took part in GES 2019-20 session 1 in FY2019. They did their session 2 online in FY2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants each gave a presentation on the management issues they tackled over the past year. The seminar concluded with them promising further growth and development in the future. (The 2020-21 GES has been suspended since session 1.)
Through programs like these, we are laying a more robust business foundation worldwide for responding to change and executing strategies.

Employees sent to Japan for training

Epson also recently introduced a program that is designed to deepen the insights of young employees at Epson sales companies. The program enables them to get a different perspective on projects they are working on through interaction with people from the operations divisions and Head Office supervisory departments in Japan. It also enhances their appreciation of Epson and Epson values.
(This program is currently on hiatus because of COVID-19.)

Epson employs a large number of persons with disabilities. For this reason, we accommodate special needs in a variety of ways. For example, we provide easy-access restrooms, parking spaces, and other facilities. We also provide the support needed to do their jobs, including IT tools and services such as sign language interpretation for in-house training and interviews. Two special subsidiaries, Epson Mizube Corp. and Epson Swan Corp. have made special provisions to accommodate employees with disabilities and allow them to make the most of their talents, and they are now expanding job opportunities for disabled employees.

Epson Mizube was founded in 1983 as a special subsidiary of Seiko Epson. It began with a workforce of 15 people, 11 of whom had disabilities. Since then, it has steadily expanded job opportunities for persons with disabilities in the Epson Group and in the local community.
Epson Mizube's stated purpose is to contribute to society and realize employee happiness through diversity and inclusion. It embraces respect, unity, study, autonomy, and sincerity as common values.
As of the end of March 2022, Epson Mizube employed 149 persons with disabilities at seven sites. They are engaged in a wide variety of capacities in offices, manufacturing, environmental recycling, and more.
Facilities cleaning services, which were launched in 2008, have grown into a core business. As of the end of March 2022, Epson Mizube employs 58 people on its cleaning crews. Since 2017, a PaperLab upcycling model line has expanded employment opportunities for persons with disabilities while reducing Epson's environmental impact. Employees on the line sort used paper, operate the PaperLab systems, and use the dry-fiber paper (DFP) created to produce business cards, notebooks, and other items.

Abilympics Participation

Their Imperial Majesties Emperor and Empress Pay Virtual Visit to Epson Mizube

On December 17, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Their Imperial Majesties Emperor and Empress made a virtual visit to Epson Mizube Corp.
Their Majesties showed great interest in the effort that Epson Mizube employees were putting into their jobs and had warm, heartfelt messages for each.
At the end, His Majesty the Emperor remarked that "I am grateful to have had this conversation with persons who have disabilities." Her Majesty the Empress also expressed her appreciation, saying, "I'm glad to hear how actively you are all working. COVID-19 is creating challenges for everyone. Please take care of yourselves."
Their Majesties' visit will encourage persons with disabilities working throughout Japan. For Epson Mizube employees, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that they will never forget.

Epson Swan Corp. started operating in March 2002, when it was established as a special subsidiary of Tohoku Epson Corporation in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture. It was the first certified special subsidiary in Yamagata Prefecture. It is presently a special subsidiary of Seiko Epson Corporation. Located on the grounds of Tohoku Epson, Epson Swan employs 23 persons with disabilities (as of April 1, 2022) 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.

^* Data for Seiko Epson Corporation employees as of March 31, 2022.
^*1 Team leader

^* Data for Seiko Epson Corporation employees as of March 31, 2022.

^* Data for Seiko Epson Corporation and domestic major affiliated companies as of March 20, 2022.