Diversity & Inclusion at Kajima
In addition to the Head Office, branch offices, and construction sites in Japan, Kajima also has local subsidiaries across the world, including Europe, Asia, the U.S., and Australia, with staff of multiple nationalities employed at all locations. Each subsidiary takes on active roles locally and builds trust between the Kajima Group and local businesses and partner companies, thereby allowing for business activities to be carried out with a strong root in the local area.
Kajima considers its employees indispensable stakeholders and key assets for its activities. We promote work-life balance so that all employees and their families can enjoy fulfilling and healthy personal and work lives. In addition, we recognize a wide range of work styles so that employees can continue to work while engaging in childcare or family support. We aim to be a vibrant corporate group by creating a workplace environment where every individual can display their capabilities and be proud of being an employee of the Kajima Group, and where their diverse qualities and values are recognized regardless of gender, nationality, religion, or level of ability.
1. Kajima's View on Work-Life Balance
Kajima provides the basic policy shown below to promote work-life balance so that employees can find their purpose and feel happiness in both work and life and realize a healthy and affluent life.
Kajima Basic Policy on Work-Life Balance
Since people have only limited time, life and work should be balanced to ensure self-development and self-fulfillment, as well as to provide a rich and healthy life through which they can find purpose and happiness. This should also be the foundation for a company's continuous development.
In addition, we strive to realize the Basic Policy under the following slogans:
- I am not a part of my work; my work is a part of me.
My work is not controlled by someone else; I control my work. - Be sure to properly switch between work and life ("On" and "Off").
- There are just as many workplaces as there are construction sites; start with things nearby that you can do.
The situation may vary depending on the workplace, but work to tackle things that you are able to do near you.
Initiatives to Help with Work-Life Balance
In order to help individual employees achieve work-life balance and enhance productivity, Kajima has introduced a broad range of programs and measures to support a better balance between work and family (childcare and family support).
Apart from supporting work-life balance, we also help supervisors understand and support their subordinates' situations by providing the "Work-Life Balance Support Guide" on the intranet.
The number of male employees that take extended childcare leave increases year by year, so we provide "Feedback from Male Employees that Took Extended Childcare Leave" as a reference for other male employees that follow.
In addition, we have established work-life balance contact offices at the Head Office and branches in order to offer consultation about achieving a better balance between family life, including childcare, family support, and work.
Work-Life Balance Support Guide on the Intranet
Childcare-related matters
- We have established childbirth leave, extended childcare leave, telecommuting, flexible shortened work hours, caregiving leave, and family support leave programs, and an increasing number of employees are raising children while working.
Employees can take extended childcare leave based on their accumulated annual paid leave that did not carry over to the next year. As a result of this system, we are seeing an increasing number of male employees taking extended childcare leave. We are also seeing an increasing number of male employees use the flexible shortened work hours program to be actively involved in childcare. - Extended childcare leave can be taken in two parts upon request regardless of the reason until the child reaches the age of two. The flexible shortened work hours program for childcare can be used until the child completes grade six at elementary school and the shortened work hour program can be used until the child reaches the age of three.
- Leave for caregiving is available for 5 or 10 days within a single fiscal year and is deemed to be paid leave within the limit of annual paid leave that was not carried over to the next year (accumulated annual paid leave). From 2021 onward, this leave can be taken on an hourly basis.
- Family support leave, which is deemed to be paid leave within the limit of annual paid leave that was not carried over to the next year (accumulated annual paid leave), can be taken in half-day increments if a family member is hospitalized, discharged, or sees a doctor regularly.
- In addition to the family support leave that Kajima has long provided to employees for fertility treatment, a new system, childbirth support leave (special leave), was established in April 2023 to make it more convenient for employees in need to take leave with greater ease and peace of mind..
- We participate in the Ikumen Project conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and we are registered as a corporate Ikumen supporter. We also encourage male employees to involve themselves in childcare.
“Plan of Action for General Employers” Based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children
Seventh Action Plan for the Next Generation (FY2023-2025)
[Details of the plan]Goal 1: Further promote the use of extended childcare leave programs.
- During the period of the plan, ensure that male employees take at least 50% of their extended childcare leave or leave for the purpose of taking care of children.
- During the period of the plan, ensure that 100 or more male employees use the flexible shortened work hours program for childcare for the first time.
- In management training for employees in managerial positions, deliver lectures to educate and raise awareness about encouraging employees to take extended childcare leave from the perspectives of work-life balance and the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children.
<Measures>
- Provide diversity training for all employees to help create a mindset of diversity. In management training for employees in managerial positions, deliver lectures to raise awareness about promoting active roles for female employees in managerial positions from the perspective of diversity.
Family support
- We have enhanced family support leave programs and employees can take family support leave, absence, and temporary retirement for up to approximately one year in total.
- The flexible shortened work hours program, a combination of the flex-time and shortened work hours programs, is available to employees that support their first- and second-degree relatives. Along with a telecommuting program, this program allows for flexible work styles for a better work-life balance.
- Employees can also take short leave for family support for five or ten days within each fiscal year. Similar to the caregiving leave systems, this is also deemed to be paid leave within the limit of accumulated annual paid leave. From 2021, this leave can be taken on an hourly basis.
2. Voluntary Action Plan on Promoting Active Roles for Women
A Cabinet meeting agreed to build a new legal framework for promoting active roles for women in relation to the "Revision of Japan Revitalization Strategy 2014——Challenge to the Future——." Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Japan Federation of Construction Contractors also formulated action plans for promoting active roles for women and announced that they would promote active roles for female engineers and skilled workers. In support of these initiatives, Kajima announced the Voluntary Action Plan on the Appointment of Female Officers and Employees in Managerial Positions. Kajima has also set itself a target of doubling and tripling the numbers of female officers and engineers in 5 years and 10 years, respectively, starting from FY2014. The former was achieved ahead of schedule in FY2021, while steady progress has been made towards the latter as well.
Voluntary Action Plan on the Appointment of Female Officers
and Employees in Managerial Positions
Formulated in 2014
In support of “the Action Plan for Promoting Active Roles for Women in the Construction Industry” set forth by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Japan Federation of Construction Contractors as a key pillar for nurturing and securing human resources, Kajima aims to double the numbers of female engineers and women in managerial positions within 5 years and triple them within 10 years compared to its current status.
After the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was revised in 1999, Kajima worked swiftly to promote active roles for women through a wide range of measures, such as employing more women in managerial track positions, expanding job categories for female employees, appointing female employees to managerial posts, and improving workplace environments. We have also striven to expand childcare and family support leave programs and help employees use these programs, as part of our work-life balance initiatives that enable both male and female employees to engage in active roles and feel even more fulfillment in working for the company.
Going forward, we will further strengthen work-life balance support, develop programs, and build an environment so that employees can continue to work even after they move on to their next stage of life with childcare and family support. We will also help female employees to demonstrate their abilities and we will promote them to leadership positions.
Action Plan Based on the Female Participation and Career Advancement Promotion Act
Kajima formulated and submitted the third Plan of Action for General Employers based on the Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace (also known as the Female Participation and Career Advancement Promotion Act).
- Third Plan of Action(PDF:125KB) (Date disclosed: Mar. 15, 2023)
- Disclosure(PDF: 140KB) (Date disclosed: Oct. 13, 2023)
3. Active Roles for Diverse Human Resources
Kajima wants to be a company that accepts and adopts diverse characteristics and values and that enables diverse human resources to take on active roles.
Active Roles for Global Human Resources
The Kajima Group has local subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, the U.S., and Australia. We employ staff locally around the world and have foreign-national staff in Japan as well.
Promoting Active Roles for Women
We began at an early stage to promote active roles for women through a wide range of measures, such as employing more women in managerial track positions, expanding job categories for female employees, appointing female employees to managerial posts, and improving workplace environments. Although the construction industry tends to be considered as a male-dominated field, there are many areas in which women can take on active roles. As such, we will continue to develop a vibrant corporate foundation by utilizing the individualities and abilities of female employees.
Employing People with Disabilities
Based on the belief that disabilities represent a form of individuality rather than a handicap, Kajima employs people with disabilities and creates an environment where they can demonstrate their acumen at work.
Senior participation
Kajima develops programs and an environment so that retiring employees can continue to work using a reemployment program if they wish to continue working. Many older employees are working actively on the front lines using a wealth of skills and experience while training and passing down skills to employees who will lead the next generation.
Initiatives on Education for the Next Generation
Kajima promotes a wide range of initiatives to inform people about Kajima and the entire construction industry from an early stage. Our initiatives include construction site tours, visits to workplaces, and internships. All of these efforts are tailored to the expertise, age, interests, and concerns of the students who participate in these programs.
Kajima also holds the KAJIMA EXPO as an opportunity for students to learn about Kajima's human resources and technologies and understand how academic studies are utilized in society. We offer tours to civil engineering sites, building site, and the Kajima Technical Research Institute along with an event named "Kensetsu Komachi Forum" where female students can speak with female engineers.
More recently, Kajima has begun taking part in the Metaverse School of Engineering, launched in a virtual space by the University of Tokyo, as a managing company. The aim of this initiative is to make proactive contributions to promoting diversity and inclusion as well as developing DX human resources in the field of engineering.
Apart from these initiatives, we hold construction site tours at irregular periods as a member of a supporter group for the "Science and Technology Challenge" initiative from the Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office.
