Human Resources

Human Resources Principles

The Asahi Kasei Group's Human Resources Principles, established in March 2006, outline the values and behavioral guidelines that should be embraced by each and every employee—our human resources. By ensuring that our employees act in accordance with these principles, we aim to establish it as part of our corporate culture and achieve both growth for each and every employee and development for our Group.

The Asahi Kasei Group Human Resource Strategy

In 2022 we celebrated the centennial of our founding. Since the beginning, we successfully grew our business by solving social issues that have changed with the times, and continuously transforming our business portfolio. In light of these circumstances, and the recognition of the need for further transformation towards a sustainable society, we developed our human resources strategy aligned with our medium-term management plan focused on the theme “Trailblaze Together,” which began in fiscal 2025.

Two-pillared human resources strategy: lifelong growth and co-creation of diverse individuals

The Asahi Kasei Group uses the term “A-Spirit” to describe what we expect of our employees. The 'A' represents the first letter of ‘Asahi Kasei’, signifying that our employees are expected to have ambitious motivation, a healthy sense of urgency, quick decisions, and a spirit of advancement as they embrace new challenges.
We believe that these efforts will enable us to further develop and leverage our intangible assets, including our open and frank corporate culture, diverse talents and technologies, as well as the Group Values of sincerity, challenge, and creativity that have been nurtured over the past 100 years. A fundamental transformation of our business portfolio will require us to reawaken the A-Spirit, and we need human resources and organizations that will keep taking on challenges and making changes proactively and decisively. With this in mind, our Medium-term Management Plan positions "lifelong growth" and "co-creation" as the pillars of our human resources strategy.

We are running various initiatives to encourage all employees to envision their own career goals and continue learning/challenging for growth towards “lifelong growth,” and to create an organization, where diverse human resources can play an active role and we make diversity into a strength towards “co-creation.” Furthermore, in order to promote both “lifelong growth” and “co-creation,” we will work even harder to improve our management skills to maximize the abilities of individuals and teams and connect them to results.

The Asahi Kasei Group Human Resource Strategy

Specific initiatives related to “lifelong growth” are described on the "Human resources development and active engagement" page, and those related to “co-creation” are described on the “DE&I” page.

Policy

Based on the idea that "everything starts with people — people are our most valuable assets," the Asahi Kasei Group upholds a policy of “lifelong growth” whereby we encourage challenge and growth in the development of our human resources. We will focus on encouraging all employees to develop their career path independently and continue learning and taking on challenges for personal growth, while also strengthening management skills to maximize the abilities of individuals and teams.

Human resource development system

We offer a combination of ‘training by rank’ and ‘training by subject’ programs to help employees develop their skills and improve job performance. In addition to building basic skills to carry out their tasks, we support the line managers, develop top management candidates in the next generation, and foster individuals who will be successful globally.

Diagram of human resources development system in fiscal 2024

¹KSA is the name of our engagement survey for vitality and growth assessment.
²FLY is a selective program to foster next-generation leaders.

Reference: Asahi Kasei Group's investment in training per employee (actual)

	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024
Investment in training (total)	3,471,596 (thousand yen)	4,248,249 (thousand yen)	4,767,811 (thousand yen)
Investment in training (per employee)	198 (thousand yen)	242 (thousand yen)	265 (thousand yen)
Time invested in training (per employee)	25.7 (hours)	28.1 (hours)	27.0 (hours)

Human resource training-related data

Measures to support self-directed career development

Promoting CLAP, a learning platform for learning together

We launched CLAP (Co-Learning Adventure Place) in December 2022 to provide employees with access to more than 10,000 internal and external learning contents anytime. To further support continuous, self-motivated learning, we are strengthening initiatives to create an environment where employees can learn together through the development of learning communities. In fiscal 2023, we introduced a nine-month community program called “New Graduate Club” for new employees, providing opportunities to learn and grow alongside their peers. As a result, the average e-learning hours per person increased 3.5 times compared with the previous year’s new employees, helping to ease concerns about career development. This initiative received the Grand Prize in the Corporate HR Division of the HR Award 2024 (sponsored by Japan Human Resources and supported by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). Going forward, we will continue to promote new ways of learning through learning communities, with the goal of increasing the number of employees who engage in continuous learning.

Encouraging the senior generation’s participation by extending the retirement age

In this rapidly changing era, there is a growing number of issues that require the wisdom and experience of diverse human resources. Given the age distribution, it is also imperative to transfer technological skills to younger generations. We have thus extended the retirement age to 65 from fiscal 2023, in the hope that all employees will continue to hone their expertise and stay active even after the age of 60. We have also revised our compensation system from a conventional rehiring system to a new system with a treatment that allows employees to hone their expertise and take on roles needed by others, so that they can further show their skills and lead fulfilling lives.

Position posting system

We adopted a position posting system in fiscal 2003. Since then, a cumulative total of approximately 600 employees has voluntarily moved from one department to another to take on new challenges each year. To support lifelong growth and self-directed career development, which are the pillars of our human resources strategy, we aim to revitalize the workforce by expanding the scope of concurrent roles within the company, enabling employees to gain experience outside their departments for a certain period.

Supporting independent study

In October 2003, the Asahi Kasei instituted a program to support independent study by employees. To encourage employees to acquire higher level job performance and specialized or technological ability, the company will pay part of the cost of attending courses or lectures. In fiscal 2024, a total of 1,315 employees utilized the program.

Measures to improve management capabilities to draw out the strengths of individuals and teams

We aim to create an organization that can enhance vitality and spur the growth of both individuals and the organization.

Action for improved engagement KSA (vitality and growth assessment)

In fiscal 2020, we reviewed the content of our existing employee awareness survey and introduced KSA (vitality and growth assessment), a new survey that aims to confirm work engagement and behaviors conducive to growth. The survey is provided once a year to all employees in Japan, and the report is provided to line managers as reference information for understanding the current state of their organizations. We also engage in activities aimed at creating a better workplace through dialogue with employees.

At the same time, we conduct stress checks to identify health risks and create an environment in which each employee can achieve sustainable growth while maintaining good physical and mental health.

Note: Answer on a scale of 1 to 5.

Enhancing management skills and developing upper-management candidates

We are continuously enhancing programs for newly appointed General Managers, recognizing the importance of strong organizational management. Each new General Manager participates in six months of individual coaching as well as group coaching sessions held during joint training programs. Using the KSA framework, the programs support participants’ ability to analyze issues in their organizations, clearly see their own personal issues, and implement action plans for improvement. Follow-up surveys with the supervisors of program participants show that 93% observed behavioral or attitudinal changes, noting enhanced human skills such as flexibility and empathy, as well as a stronger awareness of their role in leading their organizations. As of March 2025, approximately 340 of the 700 employees on the level of General Manager have completed the program.
We also put emphasis on the development and acquisition of upper management talent. In addition to encouraging their personal growth through coaching, we offer programs to strengthen leadership and teamwork. Every year, several employees are designated as Group Officers^* through this program. In fiscal 2024, there were 35 Group Officers and 98 General Managers and Senior General Managers as candidates to become Group Officers. We will maintain this talent pool in terms of both quality and quantity.

^*Among Executive Officers, those who have the responsibility and authority to enhance the Asahi Kasei Group’s overall value are designated as Group Officers with the approval of the Board of Directors. Specifically, they are Lead Executive Officers or above in Asahi Kasei, as well as Executive Officers of equivalent standing in the core operating companies.

Developing digital human resources to promote Digital Transformation (DX)

In 2021, we formulated DX Vision 2030 to promote the development of DX as a pillar of our growth strategy. We will strive to achieve a sustainable society a reality by maximizing the benefits of digital technology.
The most important factor in promoting DX is digital human resources. While enhancing DX training by employee level, we are working on initiatives to increase the number of digital professionals who can promote advanced digitalization by 10 times to 2,500 employees by the end of fiscal 2024 compared to fiscal 2021. As a result of these efforts, the number reached 3,157 as of March 2025, exceeding the target. In addition to promoting basic digital literacy for all employees through the Asahi Kasei DX Open Badge program, launched internally in April 2021, we will continue to enhance on-site support so that digital professionals can lead DX initiatives in their respective workplaces and generate tangible results.

Functional enhancement of HR Dept.

For successful human capital management, it is essential to enhance the organizational capacity of the HR department, which plays a crucial role in achieving this goal. Upon redefining the capabilities required for the HR department in the future, we put particular emphasis on improving data utilization skills and career consulting capabilities. As for the data utilization skills, we have developed an in-house program, supervised by Professor Hiroya Hirakimoto of Osaka University, that enables many HR staff members to acquire knowledge of organizational behavior and other theories related to people and organizations, as well as practical skills in data collection and statistical analysis. We also encourage employees to obtain national career consultant certifications. As of April 2025, around 40 employees have been certified.

Policy

The Asahi Kasei Group Code of Conduct clearly stipulates that "we must respect individuals' basic human rights and diversity, not discriminate on the basis of nationality, ancestry, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, ideology, age, physical characteristics, sexual orientation and gender identity, employment status, form of contract, etc., nor condone such discrimination" as company policy. We promote the establishment of a vibrant workplace that ensures equal opportunity and enables all employees to perform at their best without experiencing discrimination. We aim to instill our company policy on an ongoing basis to prevent any discrimination or harassment through training by rank, including new employees, newly appointed assistant managers, and new managers, and corporate ethics training held at each core operating company and in each region.

We have also identified “co-creation” as one of the pillars of our human resources strategy in the Medium-term Management Plan. To respond to a rapidly changing business environment and continue creating new value, it is essential for us to enhance “co-creation” by leveraging diverse human resources to collaborate in new business development. For this reason, we position diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) as an important element of our management strategy. To leverage our co-creation, we must ‘expand’ and ‘connect’ our diversity, organically integrating technologies, businesses, and human resources to bring out our unique value.

Promotion framework

Recognizing the importance of continuously developing an organization comprised of talented individuals with diverse backgrounds to ensure our sustainable business growth, we promote the diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives group-wide, led by the DE&I Promotion Office, a department dedicated to addressing this subject. To further strengthen our promotion framework and drive DE&I as a key management priority group-wide, we have established a DE&I Committee chaired by the President of Asahi Kasei and whose members include the Presidents of Business Sectors. The committee reviews the progress of DE&I initiatives and holds discussions to address emerging challenges. The status of committee activities is reported to the Board of Directors.

Development of diverse professionals through the Group Masters program

We employ a "Group Masters" program to broaden the segment of human resources with expertise that holds universal value through the appointment, training, and treatment of human resources expected to be actively involved and participating in creating new business and strengthening existing business as "Group Masters." Under the program, we have defined five categories of Group Masters. We have clarified the respective roles of each Group Master category and enhanced treatment to create a mechanism that encourages the growth of human resources while securing outstanding external human resources at the same time. Group Masters lead the R&D of core technology fields, connecting diverse technologies and human resources to expand our business.
We have also formulated a succession plan for Group Masters in each field, and have linked the succession plan to business reinforcement and human resource development, which will strengthen our competitive edge.

Categories and roles of Group Masters

Target areas

Number of Group Masters and targets

In the previous Medium-Term Management Plan, we set a KPI for the total number of Group Masters within the Asahi Kasei Group. We achieved our target of 360 by fiscal 2024, reaching 373 in total. Going forward, we will further strengthen initiatives to ensure that the activities of Group Masters contribute even more to the creation of new businesses and the enhancement of existing ones. These efforts include formulating activity roadmaps within each specialized field and actively promoting collaboration both within and across areas of expertise.

Group Master Numbers and Targets

Expansion of opportunities for women toward achieving gender balance

Basic Approach

Based on the belief that achieving gender balance is one of the key pillars of DE&I promotion, Asahi Kasei Group established a dedicated organization (currently the DE&I Promotion Office) in 1993. As we work to create an environment where everyone can continue to play an active role, regardless of gender, we have since focused particularly on expanding job opportunities for women and enhancing support measures that help employees balance work and family life. Since the 2010s, we have continuously implemented initiatives such as distributing handbooks on nurturing newly hired female graduates, holding seminars for employees before taking and after returning from maternity or childcare leave to support their active engagement in workplace after experiencing childbirth, child care, and other life events, and providing career development support for female managers.

Initiatives to appoint women to leadership positions and build the talent pipeline

We focus on the ratio of women in leadership positions (managers and Group Masters) as a key indicator to measure the success of our diversity initiatives, setting a target of 10% by fiscal 2030.
The achievement of the above is coupled with the implementation of various initiatives to form a candidate pool as a mechanism to continuously produce female leaders. For example, our mentor program, which has been conducted continuously since 2013, has been joined by a cumulative total of 165 newly appointed female managers. Through the program, participants actively reflect on their career development and approaches to problem-solving, fostering ambition toward personal growth.
In addition, to further motivate female managers and help broaden their perspectives, we held roundtable discussions in fiscal 2023 with two female Outside Directors and in fiscal 2024 with two female Executive Officers and female managers. These sessions provided opportunities for female Executive Officers to share their own career experiences and expectations for female managers, while participants exchanged views to cultivate a management-oriented mindset, heighten their ambition to take on new challenges, and foster awareness and behavioral change.

The roundtable discussion between Outside Directors and female managers

The roundtable discussion between Executive Officers and female managers

In parallel with the above initiatives, we also establish individual personnel plans for specific women in each business sector and core operating company every year, implementing measures that lead directly to actual appointments.
As a result of these initiatives, the number of female managers has increased from three in 1994 to 335 in fiscal 2024. We currently have two female Executive Officers, two female Directors, and one female Audit & Supervisory Board Member (as of June 2025).

To promote gender balance and support diverse work styles and career development, we operate an intranet program called the “Partial Role Model Channel,” which features a wide range of employees active across the organization—including female managers and Group Masters, as well as male employees who have taken parental leave and are actively involved in housework and childcare. The program was developed in response to employee feedback that there are few role models around them. By presenting a variety of role models, it encourages female employees to pursue career advancement and inspires male employees to take on childcare responsibilities. It also aims to help employees, regardless of gender, envision building medium- to long-term careers while balancing work and family life.

Excerpts from the Partial Role Model Channel

Transforming management awareness

To make the most of each individual’s diversity and enhance overall organizational strength, it is important to recognize and appropriately address unconscious bias, such as gender-based role stereotypes. Based on this belief, we conducted unconscious bias training for all Executive Officers, General Managers, and Managers from fiscal 2023 through fiscal 2024. By helping management-level employees become aware of their own biases and learn how to address them, we aim to increase psychological safety in the workplace and foster the development of inclusive leadership that supports the success of diverse employees.

Changes in the number of female managers
Note: As of April 1 of the following fiscal year

Proportion of women working as managers and Group Masters
Note: As of April 1 of the following fiscal year

Asahi Kasei Group Action Plan^*	We have developed an action plan to promote the active participation of women more than ever. As part of our efforts to create an environment in which diverse human resources with various values and backgrounds can play an active role together and contribute to the growth of our business and organization.
Term	FY2022 to 2025
Content	Objective 1 Expand the pool of human resources who can be candidates for senior management positions in leadership roles: Increase the number of female managers by 40% compared to March 31, 2022 Latest status: 35.1% increase (as of April 1, 2025) Objective 2 Achieve a situation where women are active in leadership positions: Implement the following items during the period of the plan to increase the ratio of women at the manager level and above and in Group Master positions to at least 10% by the end of fiscal 2030 1) Formulate and implement action plans to encourage women's activities for each business organization 2) Promote a better understanding of the importance of diversity and inclusion initiatives, including the promotion of women's participation Latest status: 4.9% (as of April 1, 2025)

^*Asahi Kasei, Asahi Kasei Microdevices, Asahi Kasei Homes, Asahi Kasei Construction Materials, Asahi Kasei Pharma, and Asahi Kasei Medical (Asahi Kasei Life Science from April 2025 onwards)

Promotion of work style reforms

The Asahi Kasei Group is promoting work style reforms to enable all employees to reach their full potential in alignment with social trends.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we made the work-from-home program introduced in fiscal 2019 a permanent system in July 2022. At the same time, we introduced a work-from-home allowance and expanded the flextime program to support more flexible ways of working.

Work-from-home program	Eliminated limit on number of times the program can be used
	Expanded eligibility for new employees, etc.
	Introduced work-from-home allowance
Flexible work hours without core hours	Establishment of the system, and application of the concept of “interval” between working hours to eligible employees

Promotion of work-life balance

To promote work-life balance, the Asahi Kasei Group complies with laws and regulations aimed at eliminating and reducing long working hours and provides various forms of support for employees to work with security and vitality in accordance with their individual circumstances and values from the perspective of balancing work and family life. At the same time, we also foster a workplace culture in which everyone can make use of these provisions by raising awareness of them through our corporate intranet and offering management support for superiors. Many of the provisions we offer are also available to non-permanent employees with some changes to the details, and are actually utilized by them.

Parental leave

At group companies in Japan^*, we have a parental leave system that allows employees to take leave until April 1 following the child’s third birthday.
In fiscal 2024, 884 employees took advantage of the parental leave system, of which 593 were men and 291 were women. The parental leave utilization rate for men was 92.8%, and we continue to promote the use of parental leave through initiatives such as the “Fathers and Fathers-to-be Seminar” and distributing related video content.

^*Permanent employees of Asahi Kasei, Asahi Kasei Microdevices, Asahi Kasei Homes, Asahi Kasei Construction Materials, Asahi Kasei Pharma, Asahi Kasei Medical (Asahi Kasei Life Science from April 2025 onwards), and major affiliates in Japan are eligible.

Number of employees taking parental leave

Shortened working hours for child care

At group companies in Japan^*, employees are able to utilize shortened working hours to care for preschoolers, with the working day shortened by up to 2 hours until the child enters elementary school. Since September 2007, a provision called “Kids Support” has been introduced to enable employees to work shorter hours until their child finishes the third grade of elementary school. We are working to create an environment where these provisions may be used concurrently with a "flex-time" system for flexible working hours.
In fiscal 2024, 496 employees took advantage of shortened working hours for child care and “Kids Support”, of which 12 were men. In April 2020, we began to expand the applicable period of shortened working hours for child care for contract employees (up to the start of elementary school) and the Kids Support shortened working hours for child care.

^*Asahi Kasei, Asahi Kasei Microdevices, Asahi Kasei Homes, Asahi Kasei Construction Materials, Asahi Kasei Pharma, and Asahi Kasei Medical (Asahi Kasei Life Science from April 2025 onwards)

Number of users of shortened working hours for child care and Kids Support shortened working hours for child care

Support for balancing work and family care

Group companies in Japan^* have established systems to support caring for family members that go beyond legal requirements to provide support for balancing work with care for family members. Employees can take a total of 245 days of leave of absence for family care per family member (per illness), and up to 1,225 days of shortened working hours for family care. We have also introduced a flexible working hours for family care system that makes use of the flextime system and other programs. In addition, we are working to promote awareness and utilization of these systems by offering various seminars on caregiving, providing e-learning content, and publishing informational handbooks to meet diverse employee needs.

^*Asahi Kasei, Asahi Kasei Microdevices, Asahi Kasei Homes, Asahi Kasei Construction Materials, Asahi Kasei Pharma, and Asahi Kasei Medical (Asahi Kasei Life Science from April 2025 onwards)

Booklet on balancing work with care for family members

Main provisions to support balance in work and family life

Personnel transfers across business sectors

The Asahi Kasei Group proactively conducts personnel transfers across business sectors to leverage its strengths in diverse technologies, businesses, and markets. These transfers enable employees to gain experience in different fields, broaden their perspectives, and facilitate the organic utilization of management resources group-wide. For example, in the overseas expansion of our Homes business, we utilized the Asahi Kasei Group’s collective human resources, expertise, and management foundations to achieve faster business development and enhance cash-generating capability. Such cross-organizational utilization of talent is an initiative that maximizes one of our key intangible assets—our diversity in business and technology—and we plan to further strengthen these efforts going forward.

Introduction of talent management system "CaMP"

In fiscal 2022, the Asahi Kasei Group introduced the talent management system CaMP (Career Management Place) to enhance the visualization of human resources. CaMP centrally manages information such as each employee’s career aspirations, expertise, and experience, and is utilized for human resource development and personnel placement to create an environment that enables every individual to maximize their potential. The introduction of this system allows for better alignment between employees’ career goals and organizational needs, enabling more flexible and strategic talent management. CaMP also contributes to strengthening co-creation by serving as a foundation that connects diverse talent and fosters the creation of new value group-wide.

Development of global human resources

The Asahi Kasei Group positions the development of human resources who can support global business expansion as an important strategy and promotes various initiatives that encourage international experience, challenges, and success.
We operate several programs, including the Study Abroad Program Open to All for young employees who wish to gain overseas experience, the Overseas Practical Training Program for selected employees aspiring to become managers at overseas subsidiaries, and the Study Abroad Program for Nominated Employees for those who want to be involved in global business development. Except during the COVID-19 pandemic, about 15 to 20 employees are dispatched annually through these programs. We are also working to develop local talent in our overseas subsidiaries to strengthen their co-creation skills. We provide, administer and promote programs tailored to regional and organizational needs, including the relocation of local employees overseas, raising awareness about our philosophy, providing intercultural communication and manager training. Through these efforts, we are promoting the appointment of local talent to key positions at overseas sites and developing outstanding individuals who can contribute to the whole Asahi Kasei Group beyond their specific business areas. Since 2022, we have also implemented AK Global Connect, a cross-border online reciprocal mentoring program between Japan and the U.S., with approximately 50 pairs participating and receiving highly positive feedback.
We also actively promote talented individuals who have joined the Asahi Kasei Group through international M&A, involving them in group-wide management at the Executive Officer level.
As of now, Asahi Kasei Corporation has four non-Japanese Executive Officers.

Employment of persons with disabilities

The Asahi Kasei Group supports all employees regardless of disability status so that they can fulfill their potential and work in comfort.
Asahi Kasei Ability Corp. was established in 1985 as a special subsidiary for the employment of persons with disabilities, performing a wide range of services for the Asahi Kasei Group, including office automation services such as data entry, digitizing documents (conversion to PDF files), website design, as well as printing of business cards, document printing and binding, dispatch of sample products, cleaning, copying, and planter box gardening.
The statutory employment rate for persons with disabilities in fiscal 2024 was 2.5%, while the Asahi Kasei Group’s annual hiring rate for the year was 2.66%.^* As of March 31, 2025, it was 2.61% (720 persons), and we are taking steps to comply with the legal requirement to raise the statutory employment rate to 2.7% by July 2026.

^*The rate of employment and the number of persons employed are the average figures for each fiscal year for applicable companies of the Asahi Kasei Group. Calculations are based on total employment of 27,921 persons at the 22 applicable companies as of March 31, 2025. (number of persons calculated in accordance with the Act on Employment Promotion, etc. of Persons with Disabilities)

Rate of employment and number of persons with disabilities employed^*

Initiatives at Asahi Kasei Ability

1. Strengthening of sales activities

(1)Establishment and operation of dedicated departments
In response to the increase in the statutory employment rate, we will continue to increase the employment of people with disabilities. Furthermore, in order to create jobs that allow people with disabilities to work with vigor and pride, we have established a Sales Promotion Department as a dedicated department, which started full-scale activities in fiscal 2023. We strive to increase awareness of the Asahi Kasei Group and our businesses both internally and externally and by extension, to create jobs for people with disabilities to ensure their employment.
(2) Workplace tours
Each office (Nobeoka, Mizushima, Osaka, Fuji, and Tokyo) invites visitors as occasion demands and presents its operations and workplaces to many companies and municipalities within and outside the Asahi Kasei Group.

2. New businesses

Employment of health keepers (masseurs)
The Nobeoka Office employs a visually impaired person (health keeper) who is a certified masseur to provide services to our employees in a bid to employ more people with disabilities and as a welfare program for our employees. The program has been very well received by employees, and future expansion is being considered.

3. Abilympics (skills competition for people with disabilities)
A total of 41 employees from Asahi Kasei Ability participated in the Abilympics (a skills competition for people with disabilities) in various prefectures and won awards. In the fiscal 2024 national competition (held in Aichi Prefecture), 12 employees who advanced from the prefectural rounds competed as representatives from their respective prefectures, and one employee received an Effort Award in the photography category.

Opening ceremony of the FY2024 national competition (Miyazaki Prefecture team)
Scene from the building cleaning competition
Hidenori Igarashi won the Effort Award

System to support the activities of all motivated human resources

The Asahi Kasei Group has developed a wide range of supportive measures to create an environment that supports the individual circumstances of employees and allows them to fully demonstrate their abilities.

Support for returning to work after medical treatment

We have established a Rehabilitation Work System that allows employees to resume work in a phased manner in accordance with the instructions of an industrial physician to support a smooth return to work after a period of medical treatment. In March 2023, we also launched a new program called Time Off for Medical Appointments to assist employees in balancing work and medical treatment. This program provides support for employees who need to visit hospitals for medical care, including infertility treatment.

Leave of Absence to Accompany Spouses on Overseas Transfers

As globalization continues to advance, the number of personnel whose spouses are transferred overseas has been increasing. In 2013, we introduced the Leave of Absence to Accompany Spouses on Overseas Transfers. This system allows employees to take a leave of absence to accompany their spouse abroad. In fiscal 2024, 15 employees utilized this system, including 2 men.

Support activities for LGTBQ employees

Since January 2021, we have offered equal recognition to same-sex partners as married couples under our internal rules to support LGBTQ employees. Our head office building is also equipped with genderless restrooms that are accessible to anyone regardless of their sex or gender identity. In fiscal 2024, we implemented an e-learning program to promote understanding of gender diversity, which is mandatory for managers. We will continue to promote LGBTQ awareness among employees and create a more comfortable workplace.

Activity evaluation and recognition by external organizations

Platinum Kurumin certification

In 2016, Asahi Kasei Corp., Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corp., Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp., and Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd.^* received Platinum Kurumin certification from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Platinum Kurumin certification is awarded to companies that demonstrate particularly outstanding initiatives in actively supporting the development of the next generation. In addition, Asahi Kasei Homes Corp. and Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp. have received Kurumin certification.

^*As of April 2025, the certification for Asahi Kasei Medical will be succeeded by Asahi Kasei Life Science.

Eruboshi certification based on the Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life

Asahi Kasei has been certified as an outstanding company in promoting opportunities for women among those that have formulated and submitted an action plan under the Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life. In 2024, the company received the Eruboshi (two-star) certification from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Bronze rating in the PRIDE Index 2024

Six group companies—Asahi Kasei Corp., Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corp., Asahi Kasei Homes Corp., Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp., Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp., and Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd.—received the Bronze rating in the PRIDE Index 2024, an evaluation index that recognizes initiatives to support LGBTQ+ and other sexual minorities in the workplace.

Certified as a “Best Workplace,” the highest rating in the D&I Award 2024

Seven group companies—Asahi Kasei Corp., Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corp., Asahi Kasei Homes Corp., Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp., Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp., Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd., and Asahi Kasei Ability Corp.—were certified as Best Workplaces, the highest rating in the D&I Award 2024 organized by JobRainbow Co., Ltd.

Policy

The Asahi Kasei Group believes that all of the human resources working group-wide are the source of new value creation based on their diversity and capability to change.

As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, the Asahi Kasei Group supports and respects the labor-related principles set forth therein. We also endorse the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Children's Rights and Business Principles, and we will use these frameworks to grasp and appropriately address labor issues in our business.
The United Nations Global Compact stipulates the following labor principles.

Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining
Businesses should uphold the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor
Businesses should uphold the effective abolition of child labor
Businesses should uphold the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation

Furthermore, the Asahi Kasei Group Code of Conduct clearly states that the Asahi Kasei Group, as well as its suppliers, does not allow inhumane practices such as child and compulsory labor, prohibits discrimination for any reason including employment status, respects human rights and diversity, and carries out its business with sincerity and a sense of responsibility.

Based on the above approach, we will not only comply with domestic and international labor laws and regulations on the following labor issues, but also strive to create a work environment where employees can reach their maximum abilities while working with safety and peace of mind.

Prevention of child and compulsory labor
Reduction of excessive working hours
Formulation of working conditions based on consultation between management and labor
- Asahi Kasei Corporation offers new graduates a starting salary of at least 115% above the national weighted average of regional minimum wages in Japan.
- We maintain a set standard of living for our employees by complying with each region’s decided minimum wage and paying a fair living wage.
- We also adhere to the minimum wage regulations set by local ordinances and provide equal remuneration for the same positions, without considering gender or other differences, based on the fundamental principle of equal pay for equal work.
Guarantee of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights
- We guarantee the freedom of association and collective bargaining rights for the employees we hire.

The Asahi Kasei Group's working conditions are formulated and implemented based on consultation and agreement between management and labor.

Management Framework

General Affairs and Human Resources of Asahi Kasei Corporation oversee the Asahi Kasei Group’s initiatives related to personnel and labor management. Each group company has its own HR policy and is actively engaged in human resource development. Regular audits are conducted to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, as well as to prevent any improprieties. The results of these audits are reported to the Board of Directors as necessary.

Compliance with labor standards

Consultation between management and labor regarding labor standards

We strive to ensure legal compliance through such means as sharing information on topic and amendments to labor-related laws with group companies in order to ensure group-wide legal compliance.
In fiscal 2017, the Asahi Kasei Group also established an expert committee for the labor union and company to examine work style reform, and measures such as a work-from-home program have been implemented.
Moreover, we have promoted the use of annual leave days to reduce working hours. In addition to this, we monitor workplaces that have comparatively long working hours with the aim of preventing excessive working hours at the level of each organization.
In fiscal 2024, there were no administrative penalties for violations of the Labor Standards Act.
Recognizing the need to deepen understanding of working hour management, we are reinforcing awareness of proper work hour management across the company. In addition to providing necessary guidance to both supervisors and employees, we have been offering e-learning courses on attendance management to all personnel responsible for work hours and attendance since fiscal 2022 to promote greater understanding.

Communication between management and labor

The Asahi Kasei Group supports employees' freedom of association and right to collective bargaining and strives to maintain and strengthen a constructive partnership between management and labor.
Discussions on the overall management of the Asahi Kasei Group are held on a regular basis between the management of Asahi Kasei Corp. and the labor union, and separate discussions are periodically held at each business unit and operating site. We also hold regular management roundtables with the Asahi Kasei Group Federation of Labor Unions, which is an alliance of our individual labor unions, to provide opportunities for discussion and to facilitate communication between management and labor.
We have concluded a union shop agreement with the Asahi Kasei Labor Union (an agreement under which all employees, except managers and supervisors, are members of the union), and the union has 9,596 members (as of March 1, 2025).

Creating Regional Employment

In the regions where the Asahi Kasei Group’s businesses operate, we contribute to local communities through employment and procurement activities in those communities.