Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. and its consolidated subsidiaries (hereinafter referred to as "our Group") believe that human resources are the wellspring for enhancing corporate value and that human resources capable of thinking and acting for themselves are essential for further growth. Our Group constantly places importance on human resources, such as the training and education of employees, on the basis of our Corporate Creed of “Trust and Sincerity,” which was our founding philosophy, and our Group companies conduct human resources development to match their respective business characteristics.

In 2020, Seven & i Holdings split the educational function from the Personnel Planning Department and newly established an independent body, the Human Resources Development Department, to promote skill development and human resource development in our Group. We are making efforts to improve the human resource development setup to support the skill development and autonomous learning of individual employees, the standard bearers of value creation.

Based on the Medium-Term Management Plan announced in July 2021, our Group aims to build an organization in which both companies and employees can grow together and to build workplaces that are pleasant for everyone. We are undertaking initiatives to improve job satisfaction through means including enabling each and every one of our employees to develop their capabilities and supporting for autonomous learning, as well as initiatives to create workplaces where employees can feel truly comfortable working through workstyle reforms, improving productivity, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

As part of these efforts, we opened the Ito Training Center, an educational base of our Group to develop the next generation of human resources in 2012. The training center is equipped with an archive room, where employees can learn about the essence of the Group's founding philosophy of “Trust and Sincerity” and its history of challenge and innovation, with 22 training rooms of various sizes and accommodation rooms tailored for use in training camps also available for use at the center, by means of which we accommodate various forms of training. The center also provides a positive learning environment for employees, with training rooms established for the acquisition of specialized skills in store operations, sales, cooking, and other areas, aligned to the business characteristics of each Group company, with a total of approximately 510,000 employees having used the Ito Training Center to date.

Our Group companies have established a training system based on business characteristics, including various level-specific training programs for managers to improve their leadership and management skills, as well as job-specific skill and technical training and self-development training, in an effort to develop the skills and career development of each individual, including part-time employees. We are also working to develop the skills and career development of each individual, including part-timers. Our Group's per capita training cost for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2025, is approximately 90,000 yen and 31 hours* of training per person.

Seven & i Holdings holds Group Philosophy Training at the Ito Training Center. In 2023, approximately 300 employees from Seven & i Holdings and some Group companies as well as new employees participated in the Training.

Our Group provides regular opportunities to reflect on their careers toward the realization of each and every employee’s individual aspiration. This includes offering a variety of training programs by respective Group company according to the characteristics of its business. We additionally promote support for proactive career development by employees themselves through self-assessment mechanisms and interviews with superiors and others.

Seven & i Holdings conducts an annual program to develop next-generation management leaders. Selected executives from each group company participate in this program, learning management theory and practice from renowned lecturers and engaging in discussions. The program was launched in 2012, and by the end of February 2025, approximately 320 employees had participated.

Seven & i Holdings also conducts 360-degree feedback at each Group company. The program is regularly implemented in order to obtain multi-rater feedback from superiors, colleagues, and members on the actions of management personnel, to understand their own strengths and challenges, and to promote behavioral change and open communication.

Our Group is promoting a global growth strategy rooted in our 7-Eleven business under a vision, or Ideal Group Image for 2030, to take on the challenge of increasing the value of our brand on a global scale.

To realize this, we are enhancing and expediting various measures to develop global human resources and to formulate and operate a human resources portfolio. For example, we have maintained the “Seven English Training” English language training program since 2021. Furthermore, in 2024, we launched our "Overseas Short-Term Study Program" and "Global Training" projects with the aim of nurturing global talent. Through the Overseas Short-Term Study Program, participants learn about local business environments and market trends by taking MBA course classes and participating in programs that explore the future of "food." Additionally, the program aims at improving language skills and cross-cultural understanding, and at nurturing a global perspective. Under the Global Training program—which spans operating companies both in Japan and abroad—we dispatch on short-term assignments talent we expect to thrive overseas with the goals of encouraging their understanding of overseas business practices and nurturing things like their practical communications skills.

Respective Group companies have also put arrangements in place for measures to support growth such as in-house training and self-development support programs, to actively promote the development of global human resources.

Seven-Eleven Japan provides a variety of training programs matched to the development stage of each employee so they can work with securely and thrive. We conduct "new employee training" to support training for new hires at stores with the goals of eliminating job anxieties and encouraging retention, and "shift leader training" to nurture the store personnel who will be responsible for specific time slots. Furthermore, as means of training our increasingly diverse work force, we are pouring our energies into "hospitality training" for our foreign-born employees and "new employee training (slow-paced basic course)” for senior employees.

Additionally, since 2022 we have held a "National Customer Service Contest" as an initiative meant to improve employee satisfaction and motivation. It was implemented in response to calls from franchise owners who wanted some way to give praise to employees who were doing conspicuously good work. The contest's purpose is to visualize the efforts and means by which store employees deal with customers day-to-day and to support their growth. Participants recreated actual customer service scenarios and demonstrated the ways recommended for dealing with customers. The contest provides a valuable opportunity for both competing over the levels of customer service skills and hospitality, while also learning about one another's initiatives.

Ito-Yokado holds training for all employees, including part-time employees, to teach company policies, retail fundamentals, and skills and knowledge required for work. Especially during training for new employees, we continuously provide training leading to on-the-job training at our stores and support improving the skills of our employees. The goal is to enhance the knowledge of products of their affiliated sections as well as customer service skills and fresh food preparation. Additionally, training is held that allows everyone from new hires to sales floor staff, sales floor managers, assistant store managers, and store managers to gradually acquire the sales floor management and management skills in line with their respective positions. We also provide training programs—such as open enrollment training available to anyone who wishes to participate—to encourage each individual to want to keep on learning while improving their skills in preparation for their next positions.

York-Benimru uses target setting charts to assess the individual employee’s current skills and abilities as well as skills to be acquired and training targets between individual employees and their managers. The target setting charts include detailed items necessary for job performance, such as customer service, sales area management, ordering, and food preparation techniques, with the skills and abilities of the employee assessed on a six-step scale from 0 to 5. In the “skills version” for staff members and part-time employees, items are determined for each division depending on duties, job characteristics, and products handled for each analysis item. There is also a “management version” for store managers, assistant store managers, customer service managers and section managers that is intended to help raise and standardize management abilities. Based on the chart, employees confirm their skill levels with their supervisors and twice a year share the progress they have made with their supervisors and establish the next set of goals. This enables them to check their own growth, helping to boost motivation.

Akachan Honpo's headquarters training department holds an 　“Online Store Induction Training” for newly hired part-timers. After joining the company, they take a class involving two hours and a half of video materials, which is followed by an hour of online supplementary training and review of the video content. This is an opportunity for all new hires to learn about company policies and the basics of the business. Furthermore, on-the-job training is conducted in stores based on the training plan, and basic knowledge is established over a period of three months.

Akachan Honpo also holds a “3-month follow-up sharing meeting” to resolve any concerns they may have after joining the company, thereby providing a support system that enables them to continue working for a long time after joining the company.

To provide opportunities for employees to engage in independent study, our Group subsidizes fees, and so on for those employees who are taking correspondence courses and e-learning related to business skills, knowledge, etc.

Ito-Yokado proposes 191 correspondence courses to all employees, including part-time employees, and subsidizes part of the tuition fees of employees completing a course. In the fiscal year ended February 28, 2025, 267 employees took correspondence courses.

Seven Bank supports "self-directed learning" by providing an environment for employees to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to perform their jobs, including correspondence courses (English, financial knowledge, etc.), online courses (business knowledge, IT/DX), and commuter courses (MBA, etc.). The number of courses is approximately 240, and many employees are taking them.

Our Group has introduced an internal recruitment system for each Group company. In the fiscal year ended February 28, 2025, 555 employees took on the challenge to avail of these systems, with 131* of these subsequently transferring to jobs of their choice.

Furthermore, in 2024 we introduced a Career Plan Declaration System to foster employees' autonomous awareness about individual careers and achieve optimal career placements at Ito Yokado.