Seven & i Group is building an organization in which diverse human resources are motivated to demonstrate their abilities and in which the company and employees can grow together by strengthening the linkage between management strategy and human resource policy. Employees with a diverse range of attributes, experience, and knowledge work at each of the Group's workplaces. Seven & i Holdings supports the activities of this diverse workforce and strives to build work environments that enable employees to work with satisfaction. We also recognize that such an approach leads to improved productivity and the securing of human resources and in turn to the improvement of customer satisfaction and generation of innovation, as well enhancing our competitiveness.

To promote diversity and inclusion, Seven & i Holdings established the Diversity Promotion Project in 2012 and set five targets, including for the ratio of female managers. Thus, after establishing the promotion structure in FY2012, we have pursued various initiatives, such as those for the empowerment of women, a revision of personnel system operations, as well as initiatives to raise the awareness of management-level employees, support the balancing of work and family care responsibilities, and promote understanding of LGBT issues. To strengthen our diversity and inclusion activities, and especially initiatives relating to the promotion of the activities of women, in May 2021 we joined the 30% Club Japan and set a new target of raising the ratio of female executive officers to 30% by the end of February 2026. At the same time, we have also reviewed working formats for greater productivity, focusing on rectifying long working hours, which have been a barrier to the further advancement of diverse human resources, and on achieving employee work-life balance.

1．Ratio of female executive officers: Raise to 30% (by the end of February 2026) ^※1

　  Ratio of female managers: Raise to 30% (by the end of February 2026)^※2

2．Encourage male employees to participate in housework and childcare

3．Eliminate retirements resulting from need to provide family care

4．Promote normalization

5．Encourage understanding of LGBT

※1　Totals are for four companies: Seven & i Holdings, Seven-Eleven Japan, Ito-Yokado, York-Benimaru

※2　Totals are for seven companies: Seven & i Holdings, Seven-Eleven Japan, Ito-Yokado, York-Benimaru, Akachan Honpo, Seven & i Food Systems, Seven Bank

Based on the commitment of its top level members, Seven & i Holdings established the Seven & i Group Diversity and Inclusion Promotion Project (initially referred to as the Diversity Promotion Project) in 2012 within the Corporate Ethics and Culture Subcommittee under the CSR Management Committee. This project has involved the formulation of policies for activities to promote diversity and inclusion at the Group as well as the formulation and execution of Group-wide measures.

From 2013 specialized organizations for diversity have also been established including Seven-Eleven Japan and Ito-Yokado. Such organizations have set individual goals in accordance with the characteristics of each Group company and initiatives are being implemented. In addition, a Diversity Promotion Liaison Council - at which persons in charge of diversity promotion at 11 main Group companies, is held on a regular basis. The aim of this council is to share information on the progress of and issues related to promotion activities at each Group company while also expanding superior initiatives to other Group companies. The details of activities are reported on regularly at the Corporate Ethics and Culture Subcommittee at which personnel and CSR managers from 28 Group companies attend, and the CSR Management Committee chaired by the President and Representative Director of Seven & i Holdings. The aim is to spread and bring to concrete fruition diversity and inclusion activities throughout the entire Group.

Seven & i Holdings continues to undertake initiatives that support women’s career development as part of positive action. As a recent initiative, in 2021 we launched the Female Encouragement Seminar to provide Group-wide training aimed at fostering female manager candidates. Female employees from about 20 Group companies take part in the seminar.

During this seminar, the president and other members of management speak on such topics as the Group’s management policy and philosophy, and convey messages of support to participants, who subsequently discuss these with their fellow participants. Holding the seminar in an entirely online format allows participation from all regions of Japan, regardless of area, and female employees working shorter hours due to childcare responsibilities can also participate. This initiative, whereby participants hear accounts from perspectives and frames of reference differing from those encountered in their everyday work serves as an opportunity to enhance their desire for growth. At the same time, the discussions among fellow employees with diverse academic and career backgrounds and jobs serve as an opportunity for participants to think about their own careers, with the copious feedback received including such comments as “I was encouraged by the words of women working in the same Group” and “I was inspired.”

In addition, we launched Female Leader Empowerment Sessions as a means to promote appointments of female executive officers from 2022.

Seven & i Group is working to promote women and further bolster personnel training to meet the goal of a 30% ratio of female managers, one of our targets for diversity promotion. As of the end of February 2023, the ratio of female managers has increased to 36.8% for team leaders and 24.1% for section managers. There has also been progress in changing awareness, and there are now many managers playing an active part while raising children, as well as those who participate in the short working hours program. We are continuing to nurture and promote women at the Group companies through training for managers and executive candidates and the sharing of career plans with supervisors during individual meetings.

General Employers Action Plan pursuant to the Act on the Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace (in Japanese)

Seven & i Holdings has no gender gap in its personnel system, and in its wage program, compensation reflects the role and contribution of each individual regardless of gender. However, the average age and percentage of management positions at each group company are higher for men than for women, and more women choose to work shorter hours or work in limited regions in order to balance work and family life, such as childcare. In order to eliminate the differences, we are continuing our efforts to create a comfortable working environment for employees by encouraging male employees to take childcare leave and reducing long working hours, as well as to support and develop the careers of female employees and actively promote them to management positions.　

Seven & i Group is working to foster a culture where women and other diverse human resources can play active roles by conducting community activities and training targeting various levels within the Group.

Seven & i Holdings has continued to hold the Diversity Management Seminars since 2014 as a Group-wide initiative to emphasize the importance of diversity and inclusion and to raise awareness on the management of diverse human resources. A cumulative total of 6,300 people from all Group companies had participated in the seminars up to the end of February 2023. Seminars led by outside lecturers, covering themes including diversifying work styles, unconscious bias, organizational development, and leadership have been held to date, to provide the opportunity for managers to think about diversity from a number of different perspectives.

In addition, the Group companies are promoting understanding among managers of the significance of diversity management and support for the balancing of work with childcare and family care responsibilities to further train managers to make good use of their diverse human resources to generate results.

For example, starting in 2021 Seven-Eleven Japan has been inviting outside lecturers to begin training on the subjects of diversity management and unconscious bias with the goal of encouraging understanding among managers. It has also been providing training for managers since July 2021 on normalization support. This aimed at creating opportunities to deepen managers' understanding of colleagues and subordinates with disabilities and to learn about how to deal with customers who have disabilities or cognitive impairments.

In its level-based executive training, Ito-Yokado is implementing sessions on the management of diverse subordinates, including the importance of workplaces where diverse employees can apply themselves, the understanding of programs for supporting the balance between childcare and family care with work, and the evaluation of employees in the short working hours program.

Seven & i Holdings revised the Corporate Action Guidelines in 2016, to expressly specify the “Forbidding of Discrimination Due to Sexual Orientation or Sexual Identity.” A variety of educational and awareness-raising activities aimed at promoting understanding of LGBT issues are also ongoing. These include the hosting of seminars and the production of a booklet with basic information on LGBT issues.

Seven & i Group companies have a system for rehiring employees after mandatory retirement, providing an opportunity for experienced workers to use their skills and abilities.

At Ito-Yokado, for example, a re-employment system that allows people to continue working until age 65 was introduced in 1995 in response to employees who said they wanted to continue working after the mandatory retirement age. Employees can select from three options of working days and hours to suit their wishes, enabling them to work in diverse ways. From April 2006 the Senior Part-timer System was implemented to allow part-time employees to work until age 65 as well. As of the end of February 2023, 7,269 senior part-timers were active in the Group. The system was expanded in May 2017 to enable people to continue working up to the age of 70. Furthermore, as of the end of February 2023, 1,273 non-Japanese employees were working in the Group.

Amid the low birthrate, aging of society, and shrinking working-age population, Seven-Eleven Japan is creating employment opportunities for seniors who want to work. For seniors recruited by stores, including franchised stores, head office instructors give careful and considerate explanations of how to handle equipment and deal with customers to allay their fears about operating the cash registers. The ratio of employees of non-Japanese nationality working at stores, including franchised stores, is also increasing. As of the end of February 2023, the national average was approximately 9.8%, and the number of non-Japanese staff was about 41,200. In September 2020, we started so-called Hospitality Training, providing lectures to foreign students and other non-Japanese employees on the basics of Japanese culture and customer response. In the fiscal year ending February 28, 2023, about 180 employees received this training.

The Seven & i Group has long actively promoted overseas employees to local management positions. Our new Medium-term Management Plan announced in July 2021 calls for the strengthening of global strategies, and we are focusing on the development and promotion of core human resources to support these global strategies. We position mid-career hires as "work-ready" persons, and in FY2022, a total of 653 mid-careers joined 8 group companies^※ of the Group.

Although we do not set specific targets for the appointment of foreign nationals and mid-career hires, we evaluate their abilities and achievements fairly and promote them to management positions regardless of their nationality or employment status (new graduate or mid-career hire) so that a diverse range of human resources can demonstrate their abilities.

Seven & i Holdings is assisting people with disabilities to demonstrate their abilities at their workplaces based on its commitment. Providing an environment where everyone can play an active role, each Group company consults with employees with disabilities to determine the workplaces, jobs and working hours that are suitable in consideration of the level and details of their disability and their own preferences. In this way, people with disabilities work in various divisions.

In recruitment, we coordinate with special-needs schools to provide onsite training in stores and participate in job interviews organized by local employment agencies and partner with vocational schools. Furthermore, all Group companies are provided with the Seven & i Holdings Normalization Support Guide, which contains basic knowledge and practical recruitment methods when employing people with disabilities, to ensure that all recruitment and training personnel of the Group companies understand disabilities and that they considerate to employees with disabilities.

In 1994, Terube, Ltd. was established with joint funding of five companies (Seven & i Holdings, Seven-Eleven Japan, Ito-Yokado, York-Benimaru, and Seven & i Food Systems) and the city of Kitami in Hokkaido. Terube is a special subsidiary founded to promote the employment of people with severe disabilities. As of June 1, 2023, Terube employed 20 people with disabilities, and the Group's employment rate of people with disabilities※, including Terube, was 3.16%. The target for the fiscal year ending February 28, 2025, is for all Group operating companies to meet the statutory employment rate for people with disabilities.

In recognition of its efforts in the 23 years since its founding to practice normalization with the aim of creating workplace environments amenable to people with disabilities, Terube became the commemorative first company to be certified as the Employer Promoting the Active Roles of Persons with Disabilities in 2017, the first year that certifications were issued by the Japan Association of Employers of Persons with Disabilities.

Seven-Eleven Japan conducts employment support training in some areas involving “Seven-Eleven Work Experience,” “Customer Relations Training,” and “Classes on Learning from Graduates to Prepare to Become a Working Adult” for teachers and students at special-needs schools as part of its support for the employment of people with disabilities in collaboration with administrative authorities throughout Japan.

Seven-Eleven Japan promotes the acquisition of qualifications specified by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare under the "Act on Employment Promotion, etc. of Persons with Disabilities" as a measure to retain employees with disabilities in the workplace. Various initiatives have been promoted, with 96 employees having been certified as “Employment Counselors for People with Disabilities” and 15 employees certified as “Job Coaches (in-house workplace adjustment supporters)” as of the end of February 2022. These job coaches (in-house workplace adjustment supporters) with specialized knowledge provide training on how to support oneself in daily life and on how to behave as a working adult, conduct interviews over the internet, and the like. Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been endeavoring to create great places to work.

In addition, the company has introduced a voice-recognition system that can allow hearing-impaired employees to participate in remote meetings, and it is striving to create an environment where communications among all employees will be smooth. In October 2022, the company received the Governor of Tokyo Award in the Excellent Company Awards for Employment of Persons with Disabilities presented by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, in recognition of this series of initiatives.

Seven & i Holdings has established specific targets for promoting the active role of women, and the entire Group has worked together to make progress on the targets. The Group’s initiatives and the proactive appointment of female managers have received high recognition by outside parties.

Major recognition by outside parties

Seven & i Holdings acquired the third level – the highest – in the “L-Boshi” Designation for gender-advanced companies based on the Act on the Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace. We achieved the designation standard in all five evaluation categories: recruitment, career continuation, work style factors such as working hours, management ratio, and diversity of career paths. Similarly, Ito-Yokado, Sogo & Seibu, Seven Bank, Seven Card Services, Seven Financial Service, Nissen, and Nissen Life have also acquired the third level, and Seven-Eleven Japan and Seven & i Food Systems acquired the second level (as of February 28, 2023).