Promoting the success of diverse employees
Basic approach
Thoughts on women's empowerment
Idemitsu Kosan practices "People-Centered Management" and is based on creating an environment where diverse employees can work enthusiastically and grow by combining their strengths. We provide all employees with fair and equitable growth opportunities, encourage them to take on new challenges, and provide appropriate evaluations based on results and growth, thereby realizing a company where each individual can thrive.
Strategy
General business owner action plan based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace
We have positioned the active participation of women as one of the key measures for promoting DE&I, and have formulated the following action plan. We will implement systematic measures tailored to the circumstances of each female employee and promote highly effective initiatives that will lead to a steady increase in the number of women in managerial positions. We are also working to raise awareness of the active participation of women by strengthening the dissemination of information to the public so that they can concretely imagine what it is like to have female employees active at our company.
| Planning period |
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|---|---|
| Goals, details of initiatives, and timing of implementation |
<Initiatives> April 2026 onwards (1) Understanding the significance of promoting women's participation in the workforce
2. Limit statutory overtime work per full-time employee directly employed to less than 30 hours. <Initiatives> April 2026 onwards (1) Strengthening efforts to reduce overtime work
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Metrics and targets
Numerical targets for women's empowerment
| Achievements | Targets | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | ||
| Female recruiting ratio* | 47.3% | 38.7% | 45.6% | 50% or more (April 2026) |
| Female ratio in managerial positions | 4.4% | 4.6% | 5.4% | 5% or more (July 2026) |
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New graduates + career hires (both university graduates or above)
Initiatives
Initiatives to promote women’s empowerment
• Women's Health: To promote a broader and deeper understanding of women's health, seminars led by external lecturers will now also cover male menopause, expanding the topic. A series of articles will be launched in the company newsletter for group employees, with four installments planned for fiscal year 2025. Through both initiatives, opportunities will be created for management to speak about health themselves.
• Training to promote understanding of diversity among employees (e.g., training tailored to different age groups)
- Training for managers (e.g., understanding DE&I in training for newly appointed managers)
Mentoring aimed at supporting the careers of female employees: Cross-mentoring program (combining mentors and mentees from other companies), external mentoring (female executives from other companies acting as mentors), internal mentoring (internal executives and General Managers acting as mentors)
Coaching with external coaches
External training aimed at developing female leaders
Cross-mentoring program by four companies: Idemitsu Kosan, Teijin, Tokio Marine & Nichido, and Ricoh
Cross-mentoring program is a type of mentoring where the mentor (supporter, advisor) and mentee (recipient of support and advice) are from different companies. The mentoring is conducted by a senior executive and a female manager as the mentee, with the aim of accelerating the elimination of the gender gap by promoting the autonomous career development of female managers and enabling diverse human resources to learn and develop from each other across companies.
This initiative began in fiscal 2023, and in fiscal 2025 will be implemented by four companies: our company, Teijin Limited, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., and Ricoh Co., Ltd. A total of 56 people will participate, with 28 pairs of mentors and mentees forming the mentoring group.
Initiatives to promote female participation in manufacturing sites
At our company, we are working to create a workplace where every individual can thrive, starting with the voices of women working on the manufacturing floor. We began our activities based on consultations received from each of our locations, and the Women's Empowerment Group in the manufacturing department, in particular, has identified the inconveniences and difficulties experienced on the factory floor as concrete issues and has used them to make improvements.
Since 2024, we have been focusing our efforts on "recruitment," "mindset reform," and "environmental improvement." In addition to career development and networking through exchange meetings, career forums, and career planning seminars for female technical employees, we are also working to create a workplace that includes not only the women themselves, but also their supervisors and colleagues, by creating onboarding guides for assigned supervisors and conducting unconscious bias training. Furthermore, we are continuously improving uniforms and equipment based on feedback from the field, such as introducing maternity slacks, women's pipe-hanging suits, and jigs to support the opening and closing of heavy valves.
What started as a grassroots initiative has now become a company-wide effort in the manufacturing sector, with each location and related departments collaborating to continue its activities with the goal of transforming from a workplace where women can work to a workplace where everyone can demonstrate their abilities.
Promoting the active participation of seniors
With the aim of enabling employees to play an active role regardless of age, starting in fiscal 2021, we have introduced a retirement age selection system for those aged 60 to 65. Senior employees aged 60 and over are active under the same grade, evaluation, and compensation system as employees aged 59 and under. We encourage senior employees to take on new challenges by utilizing their experience and knowledge to train younger employees, passing on their knowledge and skills, and updating their mindsets and reskilling.
| Retirement age | Retirement age selection system from 60 to 65 years old * (choose your own age) |
|---|---|
| Working conditions | Same system as under 60 years old |
| Grade | |
| Evaluation | |
| Reward | |
| Welfare | |
| Severance pay | No increase in retirement allowance after age 60 |
Promoting the success of mid-career hires (employees with experience)
We position mid-career recruits as "immediately effective employees," and hired 91 of them in fiscal 2024. Although we do not set promotion targets by recruitment category, we promote employees to positions based on a fair evaluation of their abilities and performance, regardless of nationality or employment category, in order to allow diverse human resources to demonstrate their abilities.
Initiatives related to LGBTQ+
Based on our "Human Rights Policy" and "DE&I Policy," we do not tolerate any discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, understand diversity in sexual orientation and gender identity, respect and enhance each other's individuality, and strive to create a work environment where teams can maximize their potential.
In addition to implementing the same-sex partner marriage system introduced in fiscal 2023 and informing employees through e-learning, in fiscal 2024 we will launch the Idemitsu Ally Community, a company-approved volunteer networking activity, with employees taking the lead in activities with the vision of "creating a place where everyone can shine as their true self."
These efforts have been recognized, and for the third consecutive year we have been awarded the highest rank of "Gold" in the "PRIDE Index 2025," an index that evaluates LGBTQ+ initiatives.
Promotion of active participation of people with disabilities
We are working to create an environment where employees can demonstrate their abilities and work to the fullest, regardless of whether they have a disability or not, and to provide opportunities for them to thrive.
At each department at the head office and at each base across the country, we have individually created an environment where people with disabilities can work, and at the same time, at the head office, Chiba Complex, Advanced Technology Research Laboratories, and Tokuyama Complex, we are also developing a "team employment" type of employment for people with disabilities that does not rely on the special subsidiary system.
The "team work" model is a way of working in which employees take on tasks from various departments within the company and contribute as a team to improving productivity across the company. We aim to realize DE&I through interactions in daily work, without relying on the special subsidiary system *.
In addition, we will establish a new disability employment promotion group in the Human Resources Department in July 2024 to further promote the active participation of people with disabilities.
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If an employer establishes a subsidiary that is considerate of people with disabilities, employs them, and meets certain requirements, the subsidiary's employees can be treated as employees of the parent company as an exception when calculating the actual employment rate (special subsidiary system).
Inclusion of foreign employees
With the aim of fostering a sense of unity among employees working at Group overseas bases in approximately 20 countries around the world, we are conducting activities to promote mutual understanding, such as short-term training visits to Japan.
Evaluation
Selected as Nadeshiko Brand
Our company has been selected as a "Nadeshiko Brand" for fiscal year 2025, a designation jointly made by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, recognizing our outstanding efforts in promoting women's empowerment. This marks the fourth consecutive year that our company has been selected.
The company was praised for its efforts to promote DE&I (Developmental, Education, and Integration) by having executives and General Managers send messages, as well as for identifying internal challenges in promoting women's advancement and promoting concrete measures to address them. In particular, the implementation of cross-industry Cross-mentoring program was commended for leading to concrete results such as increased motivation among women to become managers and the emergence of female executives through internal promotions.
Acquired Eruboshi certification
In 2024, we were the first to receive the "Eruboshi" certification (second level) under a system in which the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare recognizes companies with outstanding initiatives for promoting women's participation in the workforce. We achieved this by meeting the certification criteria in terms of the ratio of female managers and hiring ratios, etc.