Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Establishment of the Women’s Empowerment Office In April 2025, we established the Women’s Empowerment Office within the Human Resources Development Section of the Personnel & General Affairs Department.
The office leads initiatives, such as increasing the percentage of people hired that are women, formulating individualized development plans for candidate man- agers who are women and providing training to eliminate unconscious bias.

Increase of management’s awareness In October 2024, we hosted a company-wide lecture under the theme “Human Capital Management Beginning with the Empowerment of Women.” The lecture, delivered by a guest speaker, emphasized the importance of empowering women and introduced best practices implemented by leading companies.
Prior to the event, we conducted an internal survey about female employees’ career aspirations and the challenges that hinder women’s advancement. Referencing the results of this survey, President Saguchi discussed the issues with the lecturer and shared his message about the empowerment of women with all employees.

Development and implementation of a system to promote women to leadership positions The Gunze Leadership School Ladies (GLSL) training program conveys the Company’s expectations regarding female employees, facilitates employees’ independent creation of visions for their careers and encourages people to demonstrate leadership within the organization.
In FY2024, the program was extended to include employees in non-career positions, and there have been 65 participants over the past three years.
The program has supported employees taking ownership of their careers in many different ways. Some participants have advanced into management roles, while others have redefined their career paths and pursued re-skilling.

GLSL training

Map of Initiatives for Women’s Active Participation

Balancing work and family, contributing to the Company from a medium- to long-term perspective

Chinatsu Kobayashi

Senior Manager, Legal & Compliance Office, Intellectual
Property/Legal Department

I was hired by Gunze in 2016 as a mid-career hire, and I was appointed Senior Manager of the Legal & Compliance Office in 2025.
Our office handles legal consultations and contract reviews. It also provides legal support for the implementation of business initiatives under the Medium-term Management Plan.
Outside of work, I am a mother of two. I lead a busy life. At home, our rule is “whoever can, does what they can.” My husband and I share responsibilities, such as picking up and dropping off our children at daycare or cram school, as well as cooking.
Even with overseas business trips or urgent meetings that sometimes keep me late, I am able to manage my family responsibilities thanks to the support of my husband.
I always make a conscious effort to set clear priorities and manage my time effectively. There are times when childcare and personal matters must take precedence, but rather than feeling pressured or discouraged by comparing myself to others, I believe it is important to maintain a medium- to long-term perspective and continue contributing to the Company.

Based on the principle of "Achieving the legally mandated employment rate," the company works to maintain and create employment opportunities for people with disabilities on an ongoing basis.
Specifically, employment promoters at each business site, led by the person in charge of promoting employment for persons with disabilities, identify workplaces and jobs that are suitable for persons with disabilities, and work with local Hello Work offices to match persons with disabilities with workplaces and jobs, and provide support for workplace adjustment.

We have three visions regarding support for work-life balance: no employee should have to leave the Company due to their childcare or nursing care responsibilities, we shall develop an organizational culture where employees can confidently use the systems that are in place, and employees should be able to continue to demonstrate their abilities and further their careers even after experiencing childcare or nursing care.
Based on the results of an internal survey conducted in FY2024 and in line with the revised laws that came into force in April 2025, we have revised our support systems as summarized in the table on the right.
We remain committed to building sustainable support mechanisms and embedding them into our organizational culture.