Human Resource Strategy to Enhance Corporate Value
With a clearly identified human resource strategy as a key component of its management strategy, ITOCHU aims to create a company that is challenging but rewarding to work for, and to ensure all employees find their work rewarding and fully utilize their abilities. By achieving this, we aim to enhance not only employee motivation and labor productivity but also our social reputation, ultimately enhancing our brand value, and thereby further enhancing our corporate value. In addition, the enhancement of our brand value creates a virtuous cycle enabling us to recruit outstanding talent, which serves as the source of the Company’s strength. ITOCHU disclosed detailed content of its suite of unique work-style reforms, which began from 2010, to pique the interest of society and meet its expectations. We try to connect this action to the benefit of society as described in the Company’s corporate mission of “Sampo-yoshi”.

Labor Productivity

Major Indicators

Evolving Work-Style Reforms and Health Management

Since May 2022, we have evolved our Morning-Focused Working System by introducing the Morning-Focused Flextime System and the work from home system. These initiatives have established an environment where employees can select flexible work styles based on their workload fluctuations and family situations, thereby accelerating more efficient work practices and striving for further enhancement of labor productivity. Additionally, based on the understanding that sleep management is in harmony with the Morning-Focused Working System and that better sleep quality and quantity contributes to higher labor productivity, we participated in a consortium related to sleep management in FYE 2023. Leveraging a sleep survey conducted in FYE 2024 with 736 ITOCHU employees, we have partnered with leading bedding manufacturer, NISHIKAWA Co., Ltd. to identify and address various sleep issues, including sleep apnea syndrome.
PDCA Cycle for Promoting Human Resource Strategy

ITOCHU conducts an engagement survey every three to four years (in the years when the full survey is not conducted, we perform a small survey focusing on key items) to identify and address issues in a timely manner, thereby establishing a PDCA cycle to promote human resource strategies. In the FYE 2024 small survey, the items about “whether the Company values and is considerate of its employees” and “whether it has a high-performance culture of achievement” continued to receive high positive response rates. However, employees continued to have strong interest in the Company’s further improvement of job satisfaction for junior and mid-career employees and addressing diverse values. In FYE 2024, after conducting a detailed analysis of these results and reporting issues and countermeasures to the Management Meeting, we implemented a major revision of our human resource system for the first time in about 10 years. The next steps include promoting evaluations and compensation commensurate with results, and supporting employee-led career development that takes life events into consideration. The main issues and countermeasures are as follows.



Revision of Human Resource System
Since the introduction of the current human resource system in FYE 2000, we have consistently implemented revisions aimed at maintaining recruitment competitiveness and enhancing job satisfaction, based on the BAND system (fixed salary) tied to job roles and performance-linked bonuses (variable salary). The recent revision is driven by the need to strengthen differentiation in compensation according to individual efforts, the decline in motivation among junior and mid-career employees due to seniority-based promotion management, and the increasing demand for support measures for employees facing childcare and other challenges as the number of dual-income employees rises. In response to these issues, starting from FYE 2025, we have raised salary levels mainly for junior and mid-career employees and revised the ratio of variable pay, which was previously similar for individual and corporate performance, to focus more on individual performance, thereby strengthening the differentiation in compensation. When the degree of contribution is especially high, it is possible to achieve top-class compensation in general trading companies, with an annual income of ¥30 million for section general managers and ¥35 million for department general managers, realizing evaluation and compensation with clear incentives based on performance. For employees with high contributions, we will continue to provide even more competitive compensation going forward. In addition, we have introduced a system to promote outstanding junior and mid-career employees early, such as enabling those to gain management experience as managers at Group companies around the age of 30, eliminating seniority-based elements. Furthermore, we have started initiatives to support the work−life balance by exempting employees facing childcare and other constraints from having to relocate to other locations, and reducing their authority and discretion for a certain period.
Supporting Employee-Led Career Development
ITOCHU provides each employee with opportunities for self-directed learning and challenging experiences, and promotes Groupwide career-building support and personnel development suited to diverse capabilities and characteristics. Since the introduction of the human resource assessment system in FYE 2002, we have conducted annual career vision interviews for all employees, and have provided specialized support through the Career Counseling Office since FYE 2003. Furthermore, starting from FYE 2025, we have been implementing initiatives to alleviate career-related anxieties by sharing a personal career plan image tailored to each new career-track employee based on their individual characteristics, and conducting regular interviews. Additionally, as part of our internal personnel mobilization measures, we have established systems to support employee-led career development, such as the Virtual Office and Challenge Career System (an internal job posting system) that allow employees to take on the jobs they are interested in beyond the boundaries of their affiliated organizations. Moreover, in response to changes in the internal and external environment, technological innovation, and business model transformation, we are incorporating “continuous learning” (reskilling) elements into individual performance goals for all employees, in order to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills based on management strategies. This fosters a culture of continuous learning within the Company, leading to employee career development, job satisfaction, and the stimulation of the organization.
Virtual Office (In-House Dual Jobs System)
In April 2023, the Company formally introduced the Virtual Office, an online platform for cross-organization collaboration that enables passionate employees to participate in projects they have interest in beyond organizational boundaries, with the aim of further accelerating the promotion of cross-organizational projects and the creation of new businesses. Taking into consideration the balance with their duties in their affiliated organizations, the activity period for each project has been set between three to six months. In FYE 2024, a total of 82 employees, including those stationed overseas, participated in 16 projects. Through these initiatives, we aim to foster the exchange of insights that break down the industry silos, a common challenge for general trading companies, while stimulating a spirit of challenge and growth ambition among junior and mid-career employees, leading to their revitalization and growth.



Accelerating the Development and Promotion of Female Employees
ITOCHU has been engaging in the advancement of women under the consistent belief that diversity within the organization is important for sustainably enhancing both individual and organizational capabilities and increasing earning power. Through the work-style reforms carried out from 2010, we established an environment where women can continue working without giving up their careers, and have simultaneously provided detailed individual support to remove obstacles to career development considering personal circumstances such as life events. Specifically, we have implemented the Morning-Focused Flextime System, the support for employees hoping to return to work early after child birth (a system to subsidize childcare costs for early return from childcare leave), and to support the challenge of taking on the important career opportunities of an overseas assignment, we have provided individual support for accompanying only children and subsidies for egg freezing and infertility treatments. As a result, the number of female managers increased from 35 in April 2021 to 61 in April 2024, and appointments to key management positions such as overseas office heads, and presidents of Group companies in Japan and overseas, are progressing.
To further promote appointments to managerial positions, the Board of Directors decided in December 2023 to establish special measures to appoint women to Executive Officer positions starting from FYE 2025, and five new Executive Officers were appointed as of April 1. For female employees who lack sufficient experience in key management positions or in a wide range of jobs, we have temporarily taken affirmative action by specially providing opportunities to be involved in Companywide management, thereby promoting further growth and bringing out the potential and job satisfaction of women. ITOCHU aims not only to meet the Japanese government’s requirement of raising the ratio of female officers on the Board of Directors to 30% or higher by 2030 but also to achieve a 30% or higher ratio of female officers (including Executive Officers), by 2030.(→ Outside Directors & CAO Roundtable)
Additionally, to realize a work environment where female employees do not have to give up their career development, we have responded to diversifying health issues specific to women through femtech, aiming to improve labor productivity and promote understanding among colleagues. From FYE 2025, we have also made it mandatory for male employees to take childcare leave (at least five calendar days within one year after child birth), leading to a change of male employees’ mindset.