Promoting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Promoting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
At ORIX, diverse people support our diverse businesses. By respecting the diversity of our employees and promoting flexible working styles, we are creating work environments that are comfortable for all employees.
The need for various flexible ways of working is constantly increasing coinciding with the changes in external environments. ORIX is supporting the enhancement of work environments to enable employees to work in ways that accommodate life events while maximizing their abilities and expertise, thereby encouraging a balance between work and personal life.
We will continue to nurture work satisfaction by providing employees with opportunities and an environment in which they can make their own career decisions for the future. Each diverse business within ORIX requires the appropriate set of skills and expertise in order to grow; therefore, we believe a one-size-fits-all standard career path alone is insufficient for all employees and that providing an array of options will help lead not only to employee growth, but to ORIX's growth as an organization. We aim to establish a human resources system that enables employees to achieve a broad range of career aspirations, from careers in organizational management to careers that require unique skills as specialists. In addition, ORIX is exploring the idea of a flexible human resources system that is tailored to the particular characteristics of each business area whilst maintaining an overarching unity as ORIX Group. By appropriately recognizing those who contribute to enhancing ORIX's corporate value, we are working toward creating an environment where those who will eventually be responsible for the future growth of the company can play an active role and thrive.
Women's Success in the Workplace
A champion for women's active participation in the workplace from a very early stage, ORIX began recruiting female university graduates for comprehensive work positions*1 in 1982 before the enforcement of Japan's Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1986. We actively expand systems that provide support to help our female employees navigate various life events after they join the Group and have been enhancing career support so women can maximize their capabilities, expand their roles, and advance their careers.
As a result of these efforts, women comprise 29.8% of managers at ORIX Corporation and 25.7% of managers at the 10 domestic Group companies*2 as of March 31, 2023. As of June 30, 2023, four of the 33 directors, executive officers, and Group executives of ORIX Corporation were women, accounting for 12.1% of all officers.
As one of the benchmarks for diverse participation in decision-making and equal leadership, we have set a goal to raise the ratio of female managers to 30% or higher by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2030 and will continue to promote initiatives that propel women's success.
- Initiatives to support women's success can be found here (Human Resources System / Human Resource Development System).
- Data concerning ORIX Group's female managers can be found here.
- In Japan, there are two different tracks to employment: comprehensive and general administrative. Comprehensive track employees work on business matters and are potential managerial candidates. They are expected to take on a variety of roles in a range of business areas and are therefore subject to transfers and relocations. General administrative employees, on the other hand, mainly provide administrative and clerical support to comprehensive employees.
- 10 Group companies in Japan refers to the following: ORIX Corporation, ORIX Rentec Corporation, ORIX Auto Corporation, ORIX Credit Corporation, ORIX Real Estate Corporation, ORIX Computer Systems Corporation, ORIX Bank Corporation, ORIX Life Insurance Corporation, ORIX Eco Services Corporation, and ORIX Asset Management & Loan Services Corporation.
Senior Citizens' Success in the Workplace
Senior employees are increasingly motivated to work due to economic reasons such as longer healthy life expectancies and an increase in the age at which pension payments begin. It is our belief that the knowledge and skills senior employees have cultivated in their years of work are valuable assets to organizations.
To create an environment where senior employees can work with a sense of security, ORIX raised its retirement age from 60 to 65 in April 2014. We are refining systems that support the success of senior employees based on the belief that the continued participation of senior employees with extensive experience and expertise will enhance the company's organizational strength and increase its overall vitality.
ORIX has established a human resources and evaluation system that incorporates roles and achievements for employees over the age of 60. Simultaneously, we have introduced several systems—a career challenge system, a self-application system, and an internal job posting system—that enable employees to autonomously form their mid- to long-term careers up to the age of 65 at an early stage.
- Initiatives in place to support the success of senior citizens can be found here (Human Resource Development System).
Promoting the Employment of People with Disabilities
ORIX believes careers that encourage growth and inspire fulfillment should be available to employees with disabilities, and it aims to provide the support and infrastructure to allow employees to take on challenges and shine in what they do. One example of this is employees who are hard of hearing receiving support by way of sign language interpretation in all meetings, health-related discussions, and explanatory sessions on newly assigned responsibilities and work. Other examples include training sessions held periodically to increase management understanding, in addition to sign language education for employees, as well as the lending of special equipment to encourage and increase communication.
ORIX established the special subsidiary company ORIX Business Support Corporation
(in Japanese) in April 2007—as of April 2023, the subsidiary employs 84 employees with disabilities. ORIX Business Support assists various companies within ORIX with work such as enclosing and mailing documents and digitizing stored documents; segmenting this work allows for need-based task assignment and operational efficiency, which subsequently contributes to the work of many companies within ORIX. In addition to administrative work, ORIX Business Support employees are also taking on the challenge of operating a café for employees, beautifying office spaces, cleaning and inspecting cars used for sales activities, and more.
Since August 2020, ORIX Business Support has been registered as a company that supports employees with disabilities for Tokyo Foundation for Employment Services.
Hiring Mid-Career Employees and New Graduates from Overseas
Obtaining talent that can accommodate its ever-changing enterprise, maintain and grow its diverse businesses, and adapt to shifts in the overall business environment is crucial to ORIX. ORIX also focuses on recruiting mid-career employees and conducting overseas hiring for new graduates outside of Japan.
Since its establishment, ORIX has actively hired mid-career employees with career experience in fields not only related to finance, but manufacturing, consulting, trading, and real estate as well. 70% of employees who joined ORIX Group* in the fiscal year ended March 2023 were mid-career hires. In addition to focus areas of its business such as Energy and Eco Services and Private Equity Investment, ORIX is actively promoting the hiring and appointment of external talent with expertise in digital transformation, IT and information security, and governance functions such as risk management to support its diverse business.
Since 2016, ORIX has focused on recruiting students with diverse values, including hiring new graduates from overseas universities in China, Taiwan and South Korea as well as students from overseas living in Japan.
- Total of 10 ORIX Group companies: ORIX Corporation, ORIX Rentec Corporation, ORIX Auto Corporation, ORIX Credit Corporation, ORIX Real Estate Corporation, ORIX Computer Systems Corporation, ORIX Bank Corporation, ORIX Life Insurance Corporation, ORIX Eco Services Corporation and ORIX Asset Management & Loan Services Corporation.
Enhancing the Work Environment
ORIX Group nurtures a workplace in which employees with diverse values can work in a safe and healthy environment. We endeavor to reduce excessive working hours of any kind, not limited to the boundaries enforced by laws and regulations in Japan—where we are in strict compliance with Agreement 36—as well as overseas.
In April 2017, ORIX changed its prescribed workdays to end at 5 pm from the previous 5:20 pm therefore shortening its workdays by 20 minutes with the aim of improving productivity and reducing long working hours. Additionally, in an effort to increase the annual paid leave acquisition rate* to 80% or higher, we have established a system that incentivizes employees to use their vacation days.
- Annual paid leave acquisition rate = number of days annual leave days taken per year / total number of new annual leave days awarded in the fiscal year.
Fostering an Environment that Encourages Work-Life Balance
ORIX has various systems in place to support work-life balance and to enable flexible working styles to accommodate life events such as marriage, childbirth, childcare, nursing care, and more. The support required varies depending on the circumstances of each individual employee. Employees are given an array of options so they can combine and pair together different systems customized to their individual circumstances.
For example, the super flextime system (flextime with no core hours) and the system allowing paid leave to be used in hourly units allows employees to choose flexible working hours while satellite offices and a remote work environment encourage flexible styles of working.
In addition to systemic support, ORIX also offers seminars for employees taking maternity or childcare leave to address more specific concerns, such as how to balance work, childbirth, and childcare. Since the fiscal year ended 2016, we have also held seminars for employees raising children, including childcare seminars intended for providing couples with information regarding work-life balance as well as nursing care seminars on how to care for family members.
- Initiatives to encourage and support employee work-life balance can be found here (Human Resources System / Human Resource Development System).
Human Resources System
From early on, ORIX established a human resources system that is progressive and goes above and beyond what is legally required. We began actively recruiting women before the enforcement of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1986. By enriching our human resources system to support our employees' life stages and careers, we are creating workplaces that are fulfilling where employees can fully demonstrate their expertise and abilities.
List of Personnel Systems
Supporting Flexible Working Styles
| Flex time system | Super flextime system |
|---|---|
| The flextime system allows employees to adjust their start and end hours each day within the range of prescribed total working hours per month. | The mandatory core period (originally 11:00 am – 3:00 pm) in the normal flextime system has been discarded, allowing employees to freely set their start and end hours between 5:00 am – 10:00 pm, with the minimum working hours per day being 1 hour. |
| No overtime day system |
|---|
| To reduce overtime, we recommend that each department designate an arbitrary weekday as a no overtime day to encourage employees to leave at a reasonable hour. |
| System allowing paid leave to be used in hourly units instead of whole days | System to incentivize employees to use their vacation days |
|---|---|
| An annual total of 5 days of paid leave can be divided and used in hourly installments. | This system offers incentives to employees who obtain annual paid leave for 5 consecutive business days. It can be used once a year and covers holiday expenses for leisure including transport, accommodations, food and beverage fees, and fees for accompanying family and friends. Full use of this system is encouraged. |
| Paid time off system for volunteer work |
|---|
| This is a leave system that employees can use when engaging in volunteer work and activities that contribute to society. |
| Career option system | Spousal transfer location change system |
|---|---|
| If responsibilities required by a position become difficult to fulfill due to reasons such as caring for a child or another family member, employees may choose to temporarily change to a less demanding position. Employees are permitted to return to their original positions afterwards if they choose. | When area-based employees cannot continue to work in that area due to the relocation of a spouse, they are permitted to change their work area. |
| Spousal relocation leave system | Return to work system |
|---|---|
| In case of difficulty in continuing work after changing to a new work area due to a spouse being relocated, an employee is allowed leave for up to 5 years. | Regardless of the reason at the time of resignation (including changing careers), a retiree can apply to re-enter the company. We guarantee the job classification / grade at re-employment to be equal to or higher than at the time of resignation. |
Support for Work-Life Balance (Childbirth/Childcare/Nursing Care)
Maternity and Childbirth Support
| Reduced-time working system during pregnancy | Staggered working hours system during pregnancy |
|---|---|
| This system allows pregnant employees to reduce their working hours by up to two hours per day, taken in 20 minute increments, until the day before childbirth leave begins. | Employees who are pregnant can choose to work from 1 hour a day before and after the working hours specified by the company. |
| Reduced working hours system for prenatal doctor visits | Reduced working hours system for postpartum doctor visits |
|---|---|
| If pregnant employees have hospital visits for regular check-ups and other reasons, they can choose to go within working hours and are paid during that time. | Within 1 year after childbirth, when employees have follow-up hospital visits for health guidance and other reasons, they can choose to go within working hours and are paid during that time. |
Childcare Support
As shown in the table below, our systems go beyond legal requirements.
| System | Japanese Law | ORIX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Childbirth | Childcare leave system*1 | Until the child reaches 2 years of age | Until the child reaches 3 years of age |
| Paid parenting time system*2 | 1 hour per day (unpaid) | 2 hours per day (paid) | |
| Reduced working hours during childcare system | Under 3 years old | Until child’s graduation from elementary school | |
| Child nursing care leave system | 5 days per year (unpaid) | 5 days per year, 10 days per year for parents with 2 or more children (paid) | |
| Other | - | Babysitter aid system until graduation from elementary school Special childcare paid time off |
- The period of childcare leave is limited to 5 years in total. The period of childcare leave exceeding this limit is determined by law.
- Paid parenting time is available to employees who return to work before the child reaches the age of 1.
●Systems for Childcare Support
| Childcare leave system | Special childcare paid time off system |
|---|---|
| This system is for employees with children 3 years of age or younger. Childcare leave for the same child can be divided up to 2 times; however, if an employee acquires childcare leave after having a second child, they are limited to 5 years in total. | This system gives special paid leave days to employees who are raising infants below 1 year of age who have not acquired childcare leave. These days can be used as half days and do not need to be used in full units. |
| Post-childbirth childcare leave (Post-natal paternity leave) | Paid parenting time system |
|---|---|
| Separate from childcare leave, this system allows new parents to take leave for up to four weeks during the eight weeks following the birth of a child. Post-childbirth leave for the same child can be divided up to 2 times. | This system is for employees who will return to work before their children reach the age of 1, allowing the acquisition of up to 2 hours a day until the age of 1. |
| Reduced working hours during childcare system | Child nursing care leave system |
|---|---|
| This system allows employees to reduce work hours by 2 hours a day until their child/children graduate from elementary school. Managers are also eligible for this system. | Until the beginning of elementary school enrollment, employees raising children may use the paid nursing care leave of 5 days per year when faced with illness or injury (however, for parents raising more than 1 child below the age of elementary school enrollment, the limit becomes 10 days per year). These days can be used as half days and do not need to be used in full units. |
| Babysitter aid system |
|---|
| This system allows employees to receive financial assistance when using designated partner babysitting agencies rather than alternative childcare facilities. This system can be utilized regardless of the employee’s gender and whether or not a spouse is employed if raising a child under 12 years of age. |
Nursing Care Support
As shown in the table below, our systems go beyond legal requirements.
| System | Japanese Law | ORIX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing care | Nursing care leave system | 93 days | 6 months |
| Nursing care leave system | - | 5 days per year, 10 days per year for employees with 2 or more family members requiring care (paid) | |
| Reduced working hours for nursing care | - | Maximum 2 hours per day*, up to 3 years per family member requiring care |
- Limited to 1 hour per day when taken concurrently with paid parenting time.
Initiatives at Group Companies
Daikyo Astage, Anabuki Community, and ORIX Facilities
Daikyo Astage, Anabuki Community, and ORIX Facilities employ many senior citizens for work pertaining to apartment and building management as well as construction site management. 6,531 (roughly 92.6%) of apartment management-related employees are age 60 and above, and of that, 5,650 employees are 65 and above. Many of these senior employees apply skills and strengths gained in a wide range of industries through past work experience to their current roles.
- Figures as of April 1, 2023 (6,531 of the total 7,050 employees are age 60 and above)
ORIX Life Insurance
In April 2021, ORIX Life Insurance revised its Human Resources System to better acquire skilled professionals.
Traditionally, reaching a managerial position has been the conventional way of furthering one’s career; a newly established ‘Expert’ position will now enable skilled experts to achieve positions of equal status and compensation as those in managerial positions by contributing specialized expertise, and, consequently, producing results. This new position offers an alternative way to achieve and experience career success whilst allowing talent to thrive through contributing in ways in which they are best equipped.
Additionally, general administrative positions have been eliminated and merged with comprehensive positions after a thorough reassessment where it was determined that offering responsibilities and opportunities that correlate with individual capabilities—as opposed to offering positions with limited tasks and possibilities—will create a work environment in which diverse talent can achieve career fulfillment and success.
Furthermore, ORIX Life Insurance has created a system where flexible working styles based on diverse needs—including personal beliefs/values, childcare, nursing care and more—are accessible. The system allows employees to select geographical working location: non-restrictive positions allow for employees to be transferred internationally and domestically, while location-specific positions do not. Non-restrictive positions place employees at one of ORIX Life Insurance’s main offices—Tokyo, Osaka or Nagasaki—and relocate them if/when necessary; employees can receive up to 2.4 million JPY in additional compensation for relocation.
- In Japan, there are two different tracks for employment: comprehensive and general administrative. Comprehensive track employees work on business matters and are potential managerial candidates. They are expected to take on a variety of roles in a range of business areas and are therefore subject to transfers and relocations. General administrative employees, on the other hand, mainly provide administrative and clerical support to comprehensive employees.