Diversity
Our Approach
The SUBARU Group conducts its business with Diversity as one of its Six Priority Areas for CSR. In order to continue offering customers the unique value of the SUBARU brand, SUBARU employees need to be able to exert their unique human resources informed by their own personal values and characteristics. This is why SUBARU values the differences in gender, nationality, culture, and lifestyle among its employees and strives to create workplace environments where everyone can make a meaningful contribution. In addition, SUBARU’s affiliated companies in Japan and overseas promote initiatives in accordance with the business domain of each company and regional characteristics.
Management System
The Diversity Promotion Office of SUBARU’s Human Resources Department leads efforts in relation to diversity. The office has designated “supporting female employees to take on more active roles,” “promoting the employment of people with disabilities,” “promoting the reemployment of post-retirement age workers,” and “promoting the recruitment of non-Japanese workers” as priority themes. Among them, SUBARU has placed particular emphasis on efforts to support and empower female employees.
Initiatives
Empowerment of Female Employees
SUBARU is working to support and empower women, mainly by supporting employees in their pursuit of career development and in their efforts to balance work and childcare, two pillars of our action plan through March 2026.
To support the career development of women, we have set a target to more than double the 2021 number of female managers by 2025. As of March 2022, we have 1,113 managers, 24 of whom are women. We have established the Women’s Leadership Program (WLP) as a program for female employees to share career plans, goals, and challenges with their supervisors and human resources departments, and to provide guidance and education tailored to each individual employee, thereby promoting human resource development. We have also established a career training system for everyone from young to manager-class employees, enabling women to plan their own career paths as we engage in training for female leaders and other programs. In addition, we offer unconscious bias training to create a culture that promotes active roles for women. When it comes to health, in FYE March 2022 we held the Women’s Health Seminar, an event by women for women to help them understand health issues women can face, as well as the Women’s Health Seminar for Supervisors with the aim of supporting these.
Status of Female Employees (Non-consolidated)
| FYE March 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Proportion of female employees | 7.3% | |
| Proportion of female managers | 2.2% | |
| (Breakdown) | General managers and equivalent positions | 1.2% |
| Managers and equivalent positions | 2.4% |
Supporting Reemployment
SUBARU has also established a reemployment support system for employees who resigned for reasons beyond their control, such as the relocation of their spouse.
From the introduction of the system in 2009 to March 2022, 13 employees have returned to work at SUBARU using this system.
Employment of People with Disabilities
SUBARU strives to create workplace environments in which people with disabilities can truly shine. To achieve this goal, SUBARU leverages the ideas and opinions of our employees with disabilities and their family members.
As of April 2022, SUBARU has 318 employees with disabilities, mainly engaged in manufacturing work, and the percentage of employees with disabilities is 2.39%*1.
In FYE March 2022, we also held training programs on persons with disabilities for managers, whether or not they manage people with disabilities, and for personnel in charge of hiring people with disabilities at our affiliated companies in Japan. These programs helped instill a better understanding of the importance of hiring people with disabilities and their particular characteristics, as well as key points on labor management and other information.
- *1
- Including the number of employees with disabilities at SUBARU’s specified subsidiary company.
Employment of People with Disabilities
| April 2018 | April 2019 | April 2020 | April 2021 | April 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of employees with disabilities (Persons)* | 269 | 280 | 291 | 306 | 318 |
| Employment rate of people with disabilities (%) | 2.28 | 2.30 | 2.30 | 2.36 | 2.39 |
- *
- According to the method of calculation specified in the Act on Employment Promotion, etc. of Persons with Disabilities, one person with severe disabilities is counted as two persons with disabilities.
Universal Design Initiatives
In order to ensure compliance with the Guidelines for the Creation of Comfortable Working Environment*2, SUBARU makes improvements to the working environment, work methods, environmental facilities, and others in an organized and planned manner. We also proactively adopt universal design for our facilities, aiming to make the breakrooms, restrooms, smoking areas, and cafeterias barrier-free, thereby providing all employees with comfortable workplaces.
SUBARU has adopted universal design for the entry/exit gates, restrooms, and other facilities of the West Main Building of the Gunma Plant, as was done at the Head Office.
- *2
- “Guidelines for the Creation of Comfortable Working Environment” as stated in the Industrial Safety and Health Act of Japan
Specified Subsidiary Company SUBARU BLOOM Co., Ltd.
SUBARU BLOOM Co., Ltd. (SBC) proactively employs people with disabilities. As of April 2022, 78 employees and 20 instructors engage in the cleaning service provided by SBC to SUBARU’s dormitories and plants. As a company proactively employing people with disabilities, SBC has registered with the Supporter Company for Employment of People with Disabilities program implemented by Gunma Prefecture’s Department of Employment Support for People with Disabilities.
In FYE March 2022, SBC widely accepted study visits by local people and also introduced its initiatives to those in charge of the employment of students by companies at two neighboring special education schools.
At SBC, we hope to continue promoting the employment of people with disabilities going forward. We are also in the midst of coordination and studies for expanding this employment into new work areas based on employment results to date. In expanding employment, we believe it is essential to collaborate not only with employees but also with their families and local support organizations. Here, we will continue to promote the employment of people with disabilities as part of diversity management centered on coexistence with communities.
Reemployment of Retirees
SUBARU has implemented its SUBARU Business Staff Program and SUBARU Partner Program after revising its reemployment programs for employees after retiring at the mandatory age of 60. This revision and these programs are designed to not only help energize employees and senior citizens with valuable skills but to also be tailored to individuals with a variety of capabilities and support their active participation. We operate our programs so that all those who want to be reemployed can work for SUBARU and other Group companies.
The number of rehired employees (aged 60 or older) in FYE March 2022 was 529.
Number of Employees Aged 60 and Older
| FYE March | Retirees (Persons) | Applicants for Reemployment (Persons) | Reemployed (Persons) | Reemployment Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 108 | 83 | 83(21)* | 100 |
| 2019 | 107 | 86 | 86(27) | 100 |
| 2020 | 164 | 130 | 130(40) | 100 |
| 2021 | 97 | 72 | 72(19) | 100 |
| 2022 | 130 | 111 | 87(24) | 100 |
- Note:
- Figures within parentheses indicate the number of rehired employees at Group companies.
Employment of Non-Japanese Employees
SUBARU employs non-Japanese new graduates and mid-career workers as regular employees regardless of their nationality.
In order to help non-Japanese employees to deepen their understanding of their work, we prepare our safety and quality policy-related documents, work manuals, and other documents in multiple languages. At the Gunma Plant, where we employ a particularly large number of non-Japanese employees, interpreters in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, and other languages are stationed at each of the facilities to ensure smooth communication between Japanese and non-Japanese employees.
Moreover, we provide Japanese employees with opportunities to receive language training and engage in overseas training, thereby helping them to enhance their ability to communicate with people from other countries and understand cultural differences. These initiatives contribute to revitalizing the company and securing human resources in a stable manner.
As for foreign trainee workers, we basically provide them with education on safety and quality under the Technical Intern Training Program and also implement other measures to develop them into human resources who can utilize their abilities for their own countries after returning home.
Our overseas subsidiaries and affiliated companies independently employ human resources and work to secure human resources in line with their own policies and business details.
Regular Employment System for Temporary Workers
SUBARU has a regular employment system for temporary workers. We offer an opportunity to sit for an examination for regular employment to temporary workers who want to become regular employees and whom we have comprehensively judged to be qualified to take the examination based on the recommendations from their workplaces and other information. This system contributes to increasing the motivation and vigor of temporary workers. For the 10 years from FYE March 2013 to FYE March 2022, a total of 1,701 temporary workers became regular employees under the system.
| FYE March | Number of Those Who Became Regular Employees (Persons) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 113 |
| 2019 | 205 |
| 2020 | 223 |
| 2021 | 267 |
| 2022 | 181 |
Supporting LGBTQ Employees
SUBARU is committed to eliminating discrimination related to gender identity and expression, as well as sexual orientation, and to creating an environment in which employees with diverse personalities and values can work with vigor. As part of fostering corporate culture in FYE March 2022, we invited experts to lead online training for managers, and videos of the training were streamed and disseminated across the organization. On the employee welfare side, we have established an external consultation service for individual consultation. Furthermore, from April 2022, we have revised our benefit systems (use of company housing, allowances, leave, etc.) to cover same-sex partners.