Promoting Diversity

Vital to the sustained growth of both society and companies is how to respond to social change, such as the shrinking labor force-caused by declining birth rates and the aging of society-and problems with pension systems.
Hitachi believes that by developing the potential and widening the scope of action of the people who will be meeting this challenge, we can promote new value creation and open the way for sustained corporate growth respecting individuality and accepting diverse values. Based on this belief, Hitachi has introduced a range of measures that encourage diversity.

Supporting a Work-Family Life Balance

Since March 2000, Hitachi, Ltd. has been following the "Gender-Free and Family-Friendly Plan" (F.F. Plan)-designed to create a better work environment- to eliminate gender considerations from personnel assignments and by urging employees to maintain a balance between work and family life.
However, analysis of the results of a B.O. survey*1 of employees suggests that while progress has been made within the systemic work structure, it is still necessary to promote greater awareness and understanding of this balance in the workplace.
To remedy this situation, in 2006, Hitachi introduced the "Diversity Promotion Project," an organization directly under the president that focuses on creating a better work environment for women. The "F.F. Plan II" was subsequently launched to bring about a change in the awareness and behavior of our employees for balancing work and family life, and to ensure that this new awareness and behavior take root.
Specifically, Hitachi is making every effort to better inform all employees about how women employees work by showing examples of problems confronting women in the workplace, by encouraging everyone to work together to solve these problems, and by creating an environment where every individual can realize their potential.

*1

B.O. Survey
The Business Process and Opinion Survey is used to assess employees' views on their jobs and company lives. Launched in fiscal 2001, it is conducted annually.

Re-employing Retirees

Hitachi wants to use the rich experience, skills and know-how of our employees to create an attractive, motivating work environment.
In Japan, a "life-plan selection system" (reemployment for over-60s) has been introduced to offer re-employment opportunities in specific jobs at Hitachi, Ltd. and Group companies to interested employees who have reached the age of 60.

Promoting Employment for the Physically Challenged

At the Hitachi Group, employees with physical handicaps work as part of our team. Hitachi is striving to improve the work environment for challenged employees by including Braille signs on elevators and other company facilities, and by introducing auxiliary tools, such as software that reads information out loud from a computer screen and bone conduction telephones.
Across the Hitachi Group, to promote the employment of the physically challenged, all Group companies participate in joint interviews of challenged people. Some staff travel to provide advice and information to those Group companies that have yet to reach the legally required ratio for the employment of the physically challenged.
At the end of June 2006, the Hitachi Group ratio of employment for physically challenged persons reached 2.05% at Hitachi, Ltd. and 1.70%, on average, among major Group companies in Japan.

Creating a Dynamic Workplace through Diversification

As one of Hitachi's main CSR activities in North America, Hitachi America, Ltd. is putting strong emphasis on a partnership with the Global Organization for Leadership and Diversity (GOLD), a non-profit organization (NPO) that supports global women leaders. Contributing to the development of women leaders is one of Hitachi's major themes for promoting workplace diversity.
Hitachi America, as part of its activities to support this NPO, sponsored a symposium held by GOLD in Los Angeles in March 2007 entitled 21st Century Women Leaders: Building Bridges Across the Pacific.
GOLD's work is part of a drive to promote women's leadership in the U.S. and Japan. GOLD aims to raise awareness of women's leadership issues at the global level by establishing innovative models for fostering women executives, introducing more diversity into the workplace, and promoting cross-cultural exchanges.
The many executives and staff from the Hitachi Group of companies in North America that attended the symposium built cross-border networks and shared common awareness of the issues.

Diversity Training in Europe

Believing that it is critically important to have an open corporate culture that embraces diversity, Hitachi Europe, Ltd. introduced a diversity training program in 2006 with compulsory participation for all Hitachi Europe directors and employees working in the United Kingdom.
This program, working to deepen employee awareness, teaches that diversity includes not just differences in gender, ethnicity, and physical handicap levels, but other attributes as well, such as age, sexual orientation, and religion. Participants also learn about issues such as the UK's age discrimination prevention regulations, workplace harassment, and bullying. In addition, Hitachi Europe, Ltd. has developed in-house regulations to cover these issues.
We believe that diversity in human resources and employment strengthens the company-employee relationship and lowers employee turnover, making it a critical issue for the sustainability of Hitachi's business operations. A Web site that features diversity was set up on Hitachi Europe's intranet in March 2007.