ITOCHU Announces Efforts Toward Further Promoting Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace
February 28, 2024
ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it will establish the following new metrics and will introduce work-style reform measures based on policies by the Japanese government aimed at ensuring employee diversity and increasing the rate of men taking childcare leave.
1. Establishing Numerical Targets for Female Officers
As announced on January 18, 2024, 21% of ITOCHU's officers are female as a result of the appointment of five new female executive officers on April 1, 2024. The perspective of female managers is extremely important to ITOCHU with its advantages in the consumer business. To achieve this goal, ITOCHU set a new target of having 30%+ all officers be women (including executive officers) by 2030.
2. Mandating Male Employees Take Childcare Leave (April 2024)
Following an increase in the number of dual-income households, the average number of days taken by male employees for childcare leave rose (from 8 in FY2021 to 36 in FY2022) due to the introduction of childcare support measures* in FY2022.
However, the rate of male employees taking childcare leave has remained at 52% (FY2022), and it was determined that further improvements were needed. Start in April 2024, it will be made mandatory for male employees to take at least five calendar days of childcare leave (paid) within one year of their spouse giving birth. Mandating childcare leave for male employees is expected to further foster an internal corporate culture that respects diversity.
- *An internal system offering certain allowances offering four or more weeks of childcare leave with the goal of supporting the additional expenses (childcare fees, etc.) associated with raising a child and working when a mother returns to work while the child is still less than one year old.
3. Supporting Career Continuation focused on Femtech (April 2024)
Being posted abroad is both necessary for the business and an important career opportunity for employee growth. Options for employees and their families will be expanded starting in April 2024 so that employees can take on the challenge of being posted abroad at any stage in life with peace of mind.
・ITOCHU will cover the costs of freezing and storing eggs while posted abroad (spouses remaining in Japan during the posting are also eligible)
・ITOCHU will partially cover medical fees incurred while posted abroad for expensive fertility treatments administered while abroad
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*Commercialization of Femtech is progressing through the Virtual Office platform for cross-organizational collaboration introduced in FY2023. ITOCHU will continue to face health issues specific to women of all generations head-on as a company.
(Reference)ITOCHU Announces Strengthening of its Femtech Initiatives with Virtual Office | Press Releases | ITOCHU Corporation
4. The Official Introduction of the Health and Childcare Concierge with Nurses and Midwives Familiar with ITOCHU's Programs (February 2024)
- Based on a trial held in FY2023, ITOCHU officially introduced a 24/7 anonymous online consultation service with the outside Health and Childcare Concierge progrs across Japan.am. This service allows employees to have consultations on sensitive concerns related to their health or childcare.
- ITOCHU offers numerous online seminars to improve employee health literacy, as well as health care support in cooperation with more than 110 medical institution
ITOCHU will continue to implement grounded work-style reforms to improve labor productivity and expand corporate value, with the goal of being a company that is challenging but rewarding to work for.