Promotion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Yamaha Group DE&I Policy
• Promotion Systems and Action Plans
• Support for Women’s Careers
• Global Human Resource Utilization
• Utilization of Senior-Citizen Employees
• Employment of People with Disabilities
• Understanding and Initiatives for LGBTQ+ Individuals
• External Recognition

Yamaha Group DE&I Policy

The Yamaha Group is advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives based on the following policy.

Promotion Systems and Action Plans

Since 2016, the Company’s Human Resources Division has led efforts to promote DE&I through the establishment and implementation of three-year DE&I action plans for individual domestic Group companies and the sharing of examples of best practices between companies. In addition, the Working Group for Human Rights, DE&I was established under the Sustainability Committee, an advisory body to the president, in 2021. This working group is tasked with deciding directives for Groupwide DE&I visions, medium- to long-term targets, and measures and with monitoring the status of promotion of these measures throughout the Yamaha Group. Overseas Group companies have been establishing and implementing action plans since fiscal 2023. These plans are used to guide DE&I initiatives that are founded on the conditions and cultures of the respective companies and on regional cultures.

In addition, information is provided through intranet sites and unconscious bias and other training sessions are arranged to raise employee awareness and foster a culture committed to DE&I.

For more information on Yamaha’s DE&I initiatives, please refer to the following website.

Support for Women’s Careers

As one facet of its diversity management efforts, the Yamaha Group strives to develop a workplace environment and systems that are conducive to the careers of women.

In 2021, the Working Group for Gender Equality was established under the Human Resources Development Committee as an advisory body to the president. This working group is tasked with offering advice regarding various initiatives for diversifying management through the ongoing cultivation of female leaders, guiding the implementation of these initiatives, and periodically discussing these matters with management. We are implementing an action plan targeting a Groupwide average of 19% for the ratio of female employees in management positions to be accomplished by fiscal 2025, and progress toward this target is monitored through dialogue with Group companies. Recent initiatives have included joining the 30% Club Japan,^*1 announcing our endorsement of the goals of the Women’s Empowerment Principles,^*2 and other measures advanced based on the commitments of senior management. The status of efforts to support the careers of female employees is reported to the Board of Directors.

• *1 The 30% Club is a global campaign founded in the United Kingdom in 2010 with the goal of increasing the representation of women in boards of directors and other corporate decision-making bodies. This organization has branches in 17 countries worldwide. The Japanese branch, 30% Club Japan, is membered by senior managers of Japanese companies and has set the goal of having women represent 30% of corporate officers at TOPIX 100 companies by 2030.
• *2 The Women’s Empowerment Principles were established jointly by the UN Global Compact and the UN Development Fund for Women (currently the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women). These principles serve as a code of conduct for the empowerment of female employees with practical guidelines for investigating and analyzing current corporate practices, standards, and actions.

Action Plan

Yamaha Corporation is endeavoring to support the careers of female employees through the proactive recruitment and promotion of women, the provision of an expanded array of opportunities for developing skills, and the cultivation of a comfortable workplace environment. We are also implementing training on unconscious bias and other education programs to support these efforts. The Company is currently in the process of implementing the third phase of the three-year action plan established based on the Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace in March 2022. Domestic Group companies are also developing and implementing action plans based on the aforementioned law.

Major Initiatives

Increasing of Ratio of Women among New Recruits

Yamaha Corporation has confirmed that its hiring standards are blind to gender and has taken steps to ensure that interviewers do not make decisions based on unconscious bias.

Development of Female Leaders

Yamaha Corporation introduced mentoring programs in August 2022 for the purpose of raising awareness and promoting skill development among female employees. These programs have generated high levels of satisfaction and inspired self-leadership among participants. We are therefore advancing plans for bolstering the number of mentors in the future.

Enhancement of Awareness and Fostering of Corporate Culture

To develop a workplace environment that encourages women to develop their skills and make greater contributions, the Human Resources Division arranges meetings with division heads and offers support based on the findings of said meetings. Moreover, dialogue-based workshops, buddy meetings, and other programs are implemented to ensure that division heads can advance initiatives with full commitment. In addition, unconscious bias training was provided to all managers over the period from August to September 2022. Post-training surveys indicated clear benefits, prompting the Company to arrange such training for all employees in November of the same year.

Establishment of Work-Life Balance Support Systems

The Yamaha Group has established work-life balance support systems that surpass legal requirements in order to ensure that employees are able to continue their careers even after childbirth and other life events. For more information on Yamaha’s efforts to establish and enhance work-life balance support systems, please refer to the following link.

Indicators and Results Associated with the Empowerment of Female Employees

Ratio of Female Employees in Management Positions

We have set the targets of achieving a ratio of female employees in management positions at 9.5% for Yamaha Corporation and 19% on a Groupwide basis by fiscal 2025. In fiscal 2023, the respective figures for this ratio were 7.6% for Yamaha Corporation and 17.3% for the entire Group.

Ratio of Female Employees in Management Positions of Yamaha Corporation (Left) and Yamaha Group (Right)

• Note: Figures are as of March 31 of the respective fiscal years.

Average Number of Years of Continuous Employment and Ratio of Employees Returning to Work after Childcare Leave

Yamaha Corporation’s efforts to enhance work-life balance support systems and improve workplace enablement and engagement have resulted in a growing number of women who choose to continue their career after childbirth and other life events. There is no difference in the average number of years of continuous employment between men and women, and the average number of years of continuous employment for women for the Company is approximately 10 years longer than the average for Japan. Moreover, Yamaha Corporation has maintained rates of employees acquiring maternity and childcare leave of 100%.

Average Number of Years of Continuous Employment (Yamaha Corporation^{*3, 4})

• *3 Nationwide numbers are from results of the 2023 Basic Survey on Wage Structure.
• *4 Statistics for Yamaha Corporation are as of March 31, 2023.

More information on these and other initiatives for empowering female employees is available on the ESG Data page as well as on the following website.

Global Human Resource Utilization

The development and utilization of organizations and human resources capable of driving global business development is imperative to the Yamaha Group. For this reason, locally hired employees are appointed to important positions at Group bases around the world. For example, the president of Yamaha Corporation of America is a U.S. citizen, and is also an operating officer of Yamaha Corporation. There are also presidents with German, French, Austrian, and U.S. nationality at companies that joined the Yamaha Group through acquisitions. To promote the global utilization of human resources, we are managing important positions that are integral to management in a globally integrated manner while developing rules for international relocations along with frameworks that optimally position human resources regardless of nationality. The Company has also put forth a medium-term target of increasing the representation of non-Japanese individuals among corporate officers. In addition, we are systematically cultivating personnel capable of practicing global management through the strategic development of candidates for core positions, including future managers, as well as through succession planning.

Furthermore, Yamaha Corporation is hiring employees from outside Japan, and as of March 31, 2023, 45 non-Japanese employees were employed by the Company. The Company is striving to acquire a wide range of human resources by setting a target for hiring employees from outside Japan and disseminating recruitment information in English. As a result of these initiatives, in 2022 Yamaha Corporation received certification under the Hamamatsu City Certification for Businesses with an Active Global Workforce program, an award program that recognizes companies promoting the inclusion of non-Japanese nationals and Japanese of foreign descent in Hamamatsu City, where the Company’s headquarters is located.

Information on the number of non-Japanese employees is available on the ESG Data page.

Utilization of Senior-Citizen Employees

Yamaha Corporation and its domestic subsidiaries offer a system that provides willing employees with the opportunity to continue working beyond age 60. Through this program, employees can continue working until they are 65 (188 individuals were using this system as of March 31, 2023). (Data by year is shown on the ESG Data page.)

Yamaha Corporation revised this program in April 2020 to make for a more focused system emphasizing ambition and roles. In addition to establishing several work ranks and definitions based on employee roles, the Company introduced goal management, evaluation, and bonus systems and renewed benefit and leave systems in line with those available to standard employees.

Employment of People with Disabilities

Yamaha Corporation is promoting employment for people with disabilities while also developing working conditions conducive to active participation by these employees. The Company strives to encourage independence for people with disabilities and to achieve a society of coexistence, and it works to increase the skills of such employees and raise awareness within the Company. As of March 1, 2023, 78 people with disabilities were employed at Yamaha Corporation, of which 42 were assigned to Yamaha Ai Works Co., Ltd. The employment ratio of people with disabilities has remained at the level of 2.4%, as stipulated by the revision to the Act on Employment Promotion etc. of Persons with Disabilities scheduled to be implemented in March 2024. Moreover, we are implementing initiatives for promoting the employment of people with disabilities including the arrangement of joint, Groupwide liaison committee meetings.

Employment Ratio of People with Disabilities ^{*5, 6, 7}

• *5 As of March 1 of each year
• *6 Scope: Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha Corporate Services Corporation, and Yamaha Ai Works Co., Ltd.
• *7 Employment ratio of people with disabilities calculated using formula described by the Act on Employment Promotion etc. of Persons with Disabilities

Understanding and Initiatives for LGBTQ+ Individuals

The Yamaha Group is promoting understanding of and offering support for members of the LGBTQ+ community as an ally in Japan in order to build a better place to work for LGBTQ+ individuals and other sexual minorities and ensure that our business activities respect diversity.

These efforts have been highly evaluated, and Yamaha Corporation (headquarters in Japan) has been awarded the highest rating of gold in the PRIDE INDEX, an index designed to recognize the initiatives of companies and other organizations for supporting sexual minorities like members of the LGBTQ+ community, for five consecutive years.

Furthermore, in November 2022 Yamaha Corporation declared its support for the Business for Marriage Equality campaign, which promotes marriage equality for same-sex couples via legal recognition. Through this declaration, Yamaha reaffirmed its commitment to contributing to the realization of a more equal and inclusive society, to offering greater support for members of the LGBTQ+ community, and to creating workplace environments that are conducive to contributions from diverse employees.

External Recognition