Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Vision Statement

We are all Suntorians, we are all unique.
We courageously embrace diversity and equity, and cultivate a culture of inclusion.
Let’s be bold, be curious, and the best we can all be for our colleagues, customers and communities.
Yatte Minahare.

Strategic Pillars

Global Employment

We actively recruit new graduates from universities around the world and experienced professionals who have worked with global colleagues and gained various experiences in order to discover and acquire talents who have both Japanese and international perspectives and can exercise leadership in the global group.
We will continue to promote efforts to further establish our recruitment brand, aiming to be the company of choice for talented people from around the world.

Group Global Human Resource Activities

The Advancement of Female Employees

The Suntory Group is aiming to increase the ratio of female employees in managerial positions to 30% by 2030. We are conducting various initiatives in Japan by defining challenges such as the awareness and transformation of prudent actions according to the provision of deliberate career advancement opportunities and early return to a full work load for employees who are raising children to continually cultivate female managers.
Employees in their fourth year of employment participate in the so-called “The Fourth Year Training” where they are asked to reflect on their lives and careers and to think of how the work productivity can be improved. We support smooth return to work and full engagement of employees who return after maternity leave by providing safety net in the form of baby-sitter programme for those employees who are unable to use daycare facilities, or by bearing the costs of baby-sitting services when a child is sick or in case of other emergency. We organize seminars before and after the maternity leave so as to raise the awareness of employees regarding their duties and to facilitate their full and early return to standard working hours. In addition, simultaneously with the maternity leave follow-up seminars, we provide guidance to the employees’ supervisors to enhance the support from the managers to the returning employees.
As a result, we have received positive feedback that have mid- to long-term perspective such as, “My activities have been able to contribute to the entire department and I would like to act as a role model for other employees in the same situation.” Furthermore, managers support the advancement of female employees by demonstrating that they expect their future achievements.
In addition, we are conducting a Career Cafe for Female Leaders and Facilitation of External Seminars that target employees one step away from management because deliberate career advancement opportunities should be enhanced for both awareness and skills. This has become an opportunity to build further awareness about the challenges through means such as listening to the experience of managers who act as role models and the interaction with other participants both inside and outside of the company.
In addition, as a means of strengthening networking for all female managers and experienced employees, we will hold voluntary activities through the holding of women leader forums and the formation of a secretariat by volunteers, as well as expanding the circle of women leaders globally. We aim to accelerate the growth of the entire group in addition to the growth of the individual.
We are also actively promoting cooperation with external parties such as the New Generation of Women in Sales College to facilitate ongoing participation over the seven years since 2014.
Through these activities in Japan, the ratio of female employees in management positions has increased to 11.2% at the end of 2021. We are continuing to innovate working styles and change awareness to realize a company that is an easy place to work and allows our employees to succeed.
Beam Suntory also aims to increase the the ratio of female employees in management positions to 50% by 2030. By the end of 2021, the ratio of female employees in management positions has increased to 19% in the U.S. and 21% outside the U.S..


Group networking women's networking at Group Global

Female employment data

Number of male and female employees by Management or Non-management position

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  December 31, 2021
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  This is the total of Suntory Holdings Ltd. and Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.

Promoting LGBTQ Activities

The Suntory Group continues to engage in LGBTQ activities with the aim of becoming a company where every employee can be themselves and work enthusiastically. We have launched a project team in 2016 to strengthen our LGBTQ initiatives. In 2017, we furthered inclusion with efforts which included the revision of employment regulations to include same sex partners in the definition for spouse, the setup of a consultation office for LGBTQ employees, the creation of an LGBTQ handbook for LGBTQ employees and allies as well as e-learning for all employees.
These activities have been awarded the highest rank of Gold in the PRIDE INDEX^*1 advocated by work with Pride^*2, which evaluates initiatives for sexual minorities including LGBTQ in the policies of organizations such as corporations and association.


Awarded the gold with the highest rating in the LGBTQ initiative index "PRIDE index"

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  This organization supports the promotion and implementation of diversity management for LGBTQ and other sexual minorities. work with Pride aims to share information and provide opportunities for each company to actively engage in diversity promotion to help build workplaces where LGBTQ people can be themselves while working at Japanese companies.
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  This index is broken down into five categories: 1. Policy, 2. Representation, 3. Inspiration, 4. Development, and 5. Engagement/Empowerment. This is the first index for LGBTQ in Japan established in 2016.

Employing Persons with Disabilities

The Suntory Group is working to expand the possibilities for persons with disabilities by employing them without considering job type. We actively engage in activities such as opening special contact point for candidates with disabilities, advertising announcements for new graduate and mid-career candidates, and cooperating with Hello Work. In addition, we have advanced job development at all group companies and started Group-wide employment guidance sessions in 2012. The rate of employment for persons with disabilities as of June 1, 2020 was 2.82% at Suntory Holdings Ltd. (employing 107 persons with disabilities with 43 persons with severe disabilities) and 2.66% at Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd. (employing 35 persons with disabilities with 15 persons with severe disabilities).
We have held an internship for students who are intellectually disabled since 2014 to further promote their empowerment and 27 people have entered the company over the last seven years up to April 2020.This team opened the “Collaborative Center” in the Odaiba office in April 2018. In April 2020, we expanded the office to the Osaka and Tamachi office, aiming to provide business support for the entire Suntory Group and practice diversity and inclusion.
In January 2021, we joined "The Valuable 500^*3, " an international initiative that promotes the advancement of people with disabilities, and we will continue to further strengthen our efforts at all Group companies.

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  The Valuable 500 is an initiative launched at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2019 to encourage business leaders to initiate reforms that will enable people with disabilities to demonstrate their potential value to business, society, and the economy.

Number of employees with disabilities and employment rate (as of Friday, June 01, 2020)

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  SHD: Suntory Holdings Ltd.
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  SBF: Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.

Group-wide Unified Guidance for the Hiring of Persons with Disabilities

Introduction of Disability Support Leave Policy

We introduced the Disability Support Leave Policy in 2013 based on our desire to create an energetic environment more able to empower persons with disabilities. Five days a year are given as special leave to people who have a disability certificate. This policy can be used regardless of whether an employee works on a full-time or a part-time basis. A handbook has also been created and distributed to support managers supervising persons with disabilities.
We are furthering the building of an easier-to-work environment while promoting the employment of persons with disabilities now and into the future.

Extension of Retirement to Age 65

The employment needs of individuals after retirement are estimated to grow in the future due to economic reasons after policy revisions such as an increase in the age people may start receiving national pensions as well as a growing desire to continue working. The technical ability and skill that people who have reached retirement age have accumulated are valuable assets from the perspective of the company.
The Suntory Group has introduced the Extension of Retirement to Age 65 policy in April 2013 to more widely utilize the experience and high-level skills which senior-level employees have accumulated over many years in addition to responding to the employment needs of employees over the age of 60. This new policy assists employees over the age of 60 to acquire one of three certifications (expert certification, member certification, support certification) that have been newly established according to the certifications and position the person has reached by the age of 60. In addition, we have introduced an assessment of results and prudent actions based on the target management policy even for individuals over the age of 60. The items for the assessment of prudent actions are operational contribution and next generation contribution. Moreover, we are periodically holding Life Plan Seminars that review life after retirement in addition to providing opportunities to think about a senior career at Career Workshops that are always taken by employees while they are in their 50s.
We will keep tapping into the knowledge of veteran employees who have accumulated the wealth of experience over the years, and provide them with all necessary support.

For each person's thinking innovation

Based on the importance of accepting and making use of something different from each other, we conduct training for managers to learn about management that utilizes diversity and how to deal with unconscious bias. We will continue to send information regularly to further accelerate diversity awareness activities.

Diversity Management Selection 100

An initiative started in 2012 by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry that evaluates and selects companies of various sizes from different industries for their initiatives in diversity management as management able to contribute to economic growth. Furthermore, it aims to promote the spread of diversity through the communication with selected companies as best practices.

2018 J-win Diversity Award Honors Suntory with the Semi-Grand Prize for Advancement and Development of Women

The Diversity Award has been held by NPO J-Win since 2008. J-Win assesses the progress of diversity and inclusion promotion on an absolute scale at each company as well as a relative evaluation of progress to present awards for the purpose of accelerating diversity and inclusion promotion in Japanese companies by commemorating companies leading diversity and inclusion policy.

Suntory Receives the Highest Eruboshi Certification (Grade 3) for its Work as a "Company that Promotes the Empowerment of Women"

Eruboshi is a certification given by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare for the goal of promoting the empowerment of women at companies based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace. Companies are evaluated based on the following five factors: 1. Level of female employment, 2. Level of continuation of employment by women, 3. Working style (work hours, etc.), 4. Ratio of female employees in management positions, and 5. Existence of diversified career paths.

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  Acquired by Suntory Holdings Limited

Suntory Receives the Highest Kurumin Certification "Platinum Kurumin" for its Work as a "Company that Creates a Supportive Workplace for Employees with Children"

The Kurumin Mark is a certification given by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to companies that promote the introduction and utilization of systems and implement high-standard initiatives all aimed at promoting efforts which support both work and child rearing based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children.

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  Acquired by Suntory Holdings Limited