The Otsuka group believes that a diverse pool of workers is indispensable for corporate growth. In Japan, women’s participation in the workplace has not yet reached the level of many countries outside Japan. Accordingly, Otsuka group companies in Japan are engaged in various activities for the advancement of female employees.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical initiated Women’s Forums (now known as the Diversity Forum) in 1990 when the concept of diversity was still unfamiliar in Japan. Recognized for its progressive initiatives, the company was selected for “Diversity Management Selection 100” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2014. Employees actively promote diversity from the bottom up. Specifically, as part of a diversity promotion project, the company has held the Otsuka Women’s Workshop, a forum for sharing information on balancing work and childrearing and other topics, and contributed to the continuation of women’s careers after marriage, childbirth, and childrearing. The company also holds meetings of WING, a cross-organizational voluntary leadership study group, carrying out proactive activities under the slogan of “Transform ourselves to transform the company.” Recognized for these initiatives, Otsuka Pharmaceutical was awarded the “Shining Women Award” at the Kansai Economic and Management Summit Awards 2018 held at the Kyoto International Conference Center in February 2018.
Taiho Pharmaceutical has enhanced supports for employees who are balancing childrearing and work. When applying for parenting leave, employees can opt to have consultations with their manager and the Human Resources Department during their pregnancy, before their maternity leave, and before returning to work. The consultations help the employee understand the company’s programs and personnel evaluation matters, while increasing awareness about work style options that are available after returning to work. Furthermore, in order to support a smooth reintegration into the workplace, employees can, if they wish to, borrow a tablet computer before returning to the office for personal development. With regard to childrearing support, based on the wishes of sales employees, the company permits the employees to use the company vehicle to transport their children to and from daycare.
Otsuka Foods held a networking event for employees raising children. Mainly male and female employees with preschool children attended and exchanged opinions on supportive workplace environments. In addition, the company held a networking meeting on women in the workplace. Attended by women employees who could become the next managers, the meeting was held to explore what women employees themselves can do to play an active role and turn these ideas into action.   
Otsuka Electronics is expanding opportunities for female managers, such as appointing a female human resources development manager. The company is also examining work-life balance from the standpoint of women and carrying out reforms to create more supportive workplaces for women.

The Otsuka group has initiated a program aimed at giving employees aged 60 and older who have reached mandatory retirement age the opportunity to continue working and pass on their experiences and skills to younger employees. The path to reemployment is open to all employees of the requisite age who wish to continue working. Senior talent is also hired from outside the company, in order to bring in new ideas and perspectives, revitalize the organization, and help develop younger employees. In order to support the success of these senior employees, the group is developing work styles that adapt flexibly to individual circumstances, including telecommuting and caregiver leave.
Otsuka Holdings organizes life planning seminars for employees who will reach the age of 58. The seminars participated by group companies provide them with opportunities to prepare and plan for life after retirement.
Looking ahead to a 100-year life society, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory holds seminars for employees who will reach the age of 57 to offer them diverse life plans and help them live a healthy and enriching life after retirement, allowing them to contribute to production activities, society, and regional vitalization. The company holds a range of programs that increase health awareness, including lectures on lifestyle diseases by an in-house industrial physician, practical guidance on core training and stretching by qualified health counselors, physical fitness measurements, and group-based assessment of the cognitive functions. Losing connections with society is considered the first step toward frailty. As part of opportunities to think about what is needed for seniors to live a fulfilling life to the end as themselves, the company conducts group work oriented at rebuilding connections. These are some of the fora the company offers for frank exchanges of opinions, which is made possible by bringing together employees of the same generation. In addition to lectures that provide basic knowledge on retirement benefits and taxes as well as information on pension and other social security systems, life planning after retirement provides a chance to think about designing an enriching and fulfilling life, including money planning based on future life event scenarios.
At EN Otsuka Pharmaceutical, the human resources department is staffed by those who have completed the life planning advisor training program promoted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Based on the knowledge they acquired in the training program, life planning advisors provide comprehensive life planning advice, such as on health, social security, and purpose of life, enabling employees to prepare for the transition from working to retirement. In this way, the public and private sectors work together to help create a fulfilling senior life.

The Otsuka group places importance on the principle of integrating people with special needs into the workforce, which aims for a society where people have equal opportunity regardless of whether they have or do not have a disability. The group is working to create a supportive workplace where all employees can demonstrate their full potential.
The policy of Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s special subsidiary, Heartful Kawauchi Co., Ltd., is to integrate people with mental disabilities into the workforce. The company has developed unique systems and programs, such as the appointment of specialized consultation and support staff, and the adoption of flexible rules that allow employees to receive paid time off in one-hour increments. In recognition of these efforts, the company was certified in 2015 as an Excellent Company Employing People with Mental Disabilities.* In 2016, a Heartful Kawauchi employee received the Tokushima Prefecture “Challenged” Award, which is given to those with disabilities who are active in the workforce for many years. In 2017, Magokoro Farm Cosmos, a farm that employs people with disabilities, was granted “AnAn GAP” Certification* (commendation of excellence) from Tokushima Prefecture. This certification can only be acquired after it is verified that in addition to cultivating safe produce (tomatoes), the farm engages in environmental conservation in the area and maintains a safe and healthy workplace for its employees.
Taiho Pharmaceutical’s Tokushima Plant, with the cooperation of a local welfare support facility, began promoting the employment of people with disabilities in 2016. As of the end of 2017, eight employees with disabilities were performing such tasks as green space management, equipment inspection, cleaning the cafeteria lobby, and waste collection. At the Kitajima Plant (Tokushima Prefecture), five people with disabilities are employed who are responsible for cleaning the Welfare and Office Building constructed in November 2017, operating the cafe section of the cafeteria, cleaning the cafeteria, and more.   
EN Otsuka Pharmaceutical has employed more people with disabilities than the statutory employment rate since 2015. While it is challenging to employ people with disabilities continuously, two people with disabilities who are employed to maintain the plant environment since fiscal 2016 have achieved two years of continuous employment. The company as a whole will continue to strive to realize the continuous employment of people with disabilities.     
Otsuka Electronics has employed people with disabilities since fiscal 2012. They are engaged in internal tasks. Each and every employee perform their daily work by helping each other with mutual respect, based on a spirit of cooperation and mutual support, while making efforts to facilitate communication and other initiatives.

* The Excellent Company Employing People with Mental Disabilities Committee is entrusted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to certify employers that conduct particularly outstanding initiatives and actively contribute to society for the employment of people with mental disabilities and others.

The 3rd companywide meeting of the 7th term WING was held in Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s Tokyo headquarters in June 2017. During the meeting, a video “You can become Ikumen* and Ikuboss taking Childcare Leave” produced by WING members about employees and managers taking childcare leave was shown. The employees themselves act out the story, which begins with a male employee seeking advice from his boss about taking childcare leave. The video ends the story where the employee could take two months leave after adjusting workload with his boss and colleagues. The video has been posted on the diversity promotion project website with the goal of spreading awareness about childcare leave and with the hope that the video will be utilized for internal trainings.

*“Ikumen”is a term used in Japanese to describe a father who helps with child-rearing and housework