Society
Throughout the Sysmex Group, human resources are considered an important management resource for achieving sustainable growth. We strive to realize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), an approach that involves creating an inclusive working environment in which a wide variety of people can comfortably work and receive equal opportunities.
Sysmex Corporation has a diversity promotion function in the corporate management domain led by the members of the Managing Board, senior executive officers, and senior managing directors. This function delivers diversity-related information and advocates diversity. It also conducts internal opinion surveys to incorporate the views of employees into the measures we implement. In fiscal 2023, we held talk sessions between management and employees on the themes of inclusive leadership, mental and physical health, and the well-being of employees, which are foundational for energetic activity by diverse human resources.
In addition to respecting and accepting diversity, it is essential to provide equal opportunities at work. We are committed to gender equity, which aims to eliminate inequalities between men and women, as well as to fostering an understanding of sexual minorities and empowering employees with disabilities and senior employees.
We held a talk session between employees and President Asano on the theme of Sysmex’s well-being as part of efforts to create a workplace in which everyone can play an active role.
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Dialogue between Employees and the President: Advancement of Well-Being Management
Sysmex Corporation has worked to provide a comfortable working environment by establishing a system to support employees in pursuing their careers while raising children, among other supportive actions. This plan aims for a target* of at least 15% female managers among all managers (10.3% in fiscal 2023), with less than 1,950 annual working hours (2,010 hours in fiscal 2023) by fiscal 2024. In addition, we will set as KPIs the percentage of female managers, the percentage of next-generation female managers, and the rate of childcare leave taken by male employees. Our aim is to take into consideration both career formation and workstyle perspectives, thereby further promoting measures to encourage active female participation.
Our initiatives in fiscal 2023 included an inclusive leadership training program, a training program to support career motivation, and a training program to promote understanding of the empowerment of women in the workplace for newly appointed managers.
In terms of remuneration, we are working to eliminate the pay gap between male and female employees by determining their pay based on their duties and roles under our Group-wide HR policy. Sysmex America conducts monitoring and external audits of employee categorization by both ethnicity and gender to ensure that there are no unfair pay gaps related to either.
Sysmex incorporates a rainbow flag in the profile images of the official social media account for each Sysmex Group company during Pride Month in June to demonstrate the Group-wide understanding of and support for LGBTQ+1 persons.
In fiscal 2020, Sysmex Corporation established a partnership registration system under which partners in same-sex relationships are recognized as spouses. The Company also announced its endorsement of “Business for Marriage Equality (BME)” to support the legalization of same-sex marriage (that is, marriage equality) in Japan. Since 2022, we have been involved in Tokyo Rainbow Pride, the biggest LGBTQ+ event in Japan.
We have an intranet site dedicated to this topic to deepen understanding among employees by disseminating information to broaden their knowledge about sexual minorities. Employees can access e-learning materials and borrow an introductory textbook to learn how to improve the working environment in the context of SOGI2 and receive Ally stickers. Our other efforts include holding diversity roundtable discussions3 on the theme of “LGBTQ+ and Gender.”
Through these activities, in fiscal 2023, we earned the highest rating (Gold) in the “PRIDE Index 2023,” which evaluates companies and organizations based on their commitment to LGBTQ+ and other sexual minority issues for the second year in a row.
By creating a workplace in which people with various physical, intellectual, and psychological disabilities can work in keeping with their abilities, Sysmex aims to foster an environment in which everyone, regardless of disability, can work and grow together enthusiastically and comfortably.
Sysmex Harmony, a special subsidiary*, provides manufacturing support for our instruments and reagents, including packaging for instrument accessories and parts and the folding of reagent package inserts. This company is also responsible for packaging PCR test kits, which saw an increase in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To help employees with disabilities continue to work for many years, Sysmex Harmony carries out various retention initiatives, such as assigning them to work based on their individual abilities and ensuring that they can closely communicate with their instructors through regular interviews. The percentage of our employees with disabilities was 2.38% in Japan for fiscal 2023. We are committed to continuing our efforts to increase the roles of employees with disabilities by improving their working environment and fostering a better understanding of their needs within their workplaces.
Sysmex Europe works with an organization that endeavors to support the independence of people with disabilities. The company subcontracts packaging work on the manufacturing line of its reagent factory in Germany to them.
In March 2021, Sysmex Corporation raised the retirement age from 60 to 65* following the introduction of our job-based personnel system. As we have corrected the age-related treatment gap and promoted various working styles, senior employees can now work fewer hours and have side jobs. After retirement at 65, our employees are also entitled to work as senior contract employees until they turn 70.
We implement a Career Development Support Program as one of our efforts to assist senior employees in career development. This program is designed to provide basic knowledge and promote understanding of the views needed for career planning. It combines e-learning, group training, and individual consultation to support participants in their autonomous career planning and specific work behavior changes.
Sysmex Corporation publishes a monthly in-house magazine called the “Diversity Newsletter” to share information with employees and promote their understanding of diversity issues. We regularly hold diversity roundtables on themes such as gender, LGBTQ+, nursing care, support for the retention of people with disabilities, universal etiquette, mental health in the workplace, women's health, wellbeing, and men taking childcare leave. We conduct unconscious bias e-learning to recognize and deal this issue. With regard to childcare, we particularly emphasize programs that encourage men’s involvement in parenting. Specifically, we organize a yearly seminar at which external male lecturers speak about the importance of paternal parenting and how to balance work and life. We also organize online lunch seminars on DE&I and male- and female-specific healthcare (including FemTech* and infertility treatment) with leading experts from various industries on stage.
Such diversity education is provided globally in line with the culture and characteristics of each region. In the EMEA region, we have conducted training to prevent discrimination and facilitate cross-cultural communication, considering local workplaces as characterized by employees who are diverse in terms of nationality, ethnicity, and culture.