Diversity and Inclusion
- Home
- Sustainability
- Social
- Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and Inclusion
1. Policy and Basic Concept
We place diversity at the core of management to "build diverse workplaces where our employees can work with peace of mind, good health and can work as themselves" as stated in our Sustainability Policy. We have defined "diversity of human resources and workstyles" as the most critical issue among our material issues.
Each of our employees with their various individualities making the most of their abilities has led to our business growth so far. We believe we need an environment where all our employees can further raise their performance while feeling respected and trusted by their peers and the company.
We are creating systems and an organizational culture so that each of our employees can play a role by understanding their individualities and background. This is based on the following Basic Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
Basic Policy on Diversity and Inclusion
- The individual differences everyone has are the richness of individuality and characteristics. We will continue to create workplaces where there is peace of mind without discrimination based on mere differences. We will continue to develop the richness of our diversity as a force that sustains the competitiveness of our organization and the sustainability of our society.
- We will also enhance the sophistication of systems and measures from the perspective of diversity. We will strive to ensure women, people with disabilities and minority groups can have fair influence on the functions and hierarchies of decision-making in a balanced manner.
- We will aim for a percentage of female employees in officer positions*1 of 25% and a percentage of female employees in managerial positions*2 of 30% by 2031.
- We will always manage business with an emphasis on diversity and equality of opportunities. That also applies to the configuration of personnel in recruitment, training, sales, management and all other operations. We will foster an organizational culture which respects this way of business management.
- We will aim to diversify workstyles so that diverse human resources can demonstrate their respective abilities to the maximum possible extent. Therefore, we will develop systems that also match the life events and stages of our employees.
- We will promote the maintenance and improvement of mental and physical health. We believe that promoting the health of employees is the foundation to diverse workstyles of diverse human resources. We will proactively promote health management.
- *1: Directors, Auditors and Corporate Officers
- *2: Manager positions and above
- *3: The President, CEO and Representative Director, and the Director and Corporate Officer SVP in charge of Diversity are responsible for the supervision and implementation of the achievement of the targets set in the policy, introduction of the systems and the provision of related training under their signatures with respect to this policy. In addition, the Board of Directors supervises the progress on these matters. The Executive Committee (an advisory body to the President attended by all Corporate Officers) grasps the situation of all policy levels and drafts and introduces measures. The Corporate Officers are responsible for achieving individual targets and providing training in the divisions under their responsibility.
- *4: Significant amendments or abolition of this policy shall be determined by the Board of Directors of BELLSYSTEM24 Holdings.
Revised November 27, 2024
Hiroshi Kajiwara,
President, CEO and Representative Director
BELLSYSTEM24 Holdings, Inc.
2. Promotion Organization
We established the Diversity Promotion Group as a full-time standing organization in 2016. It plays a central role in promoting diversity.
- We have assigned a director to be in charge of diversity and clarified the responsibilities of the Board of Directors. We have also established a Diversity Promotion Group under the command of that director. The group plays a leading role in various initiatives. Those initiatives include the development of management policies on diversity, planning and implementation of measures, delivery of training, and provision of external activities. It also continuously manages risks and issues. The director in charge reports important themes to the Board of Directors.
- We are promoting diversity even more effectively by working closely with the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) who is in charge of sustainability company-wide and the Sustainability Promotion Division under the command of the CSO.
3. Targets
| Issue to be solved |
|
|---|---|
| Response policy |
|
| Percentage of female employees in officer positions ★ |
|
|---|---|
| Percentage of female employees in managerial positions ★ |
|
| Percentage of employees with disabilities among all employees ★ |
|
| Childcare leave take-up rate ★ |
|
- *The data marked with ★ are in the process of third-party verification.
- *The percentage of female employees in officer and managerial positions is for BELLSYSTEM24 Holdings and BELLSYSTEM24. The percentage of employees with disabilities among all employees is disclosed on a consolidated basis exceeding 100 permanent employees in Japan. The Childcare leave take-up rate is disclosed on a consolidated basis excluding BELLSYSTEM24 Vietnam.
- *The percentage of women in managerial positions excludes those seconded to other companies but includes those who have been seconded to our company.
- *The national average rate of male parental leave uptake in Japan is 40.5% (according to the FY2024 Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management), and we have maintained a higher rate than the average.
4. Initiatives
Promotion of women's empowerment in the Workplace
[ Basic Policy ]
- We are focusing on developing workplaces where each of our employees can work comfortably with peace of mind. We want them to be able to display their abilities to the maximum possible extent regardless of their gender. Approximately 70% of our employees are female. That means it is even more important for us than other companies to create workplaces where women can be a success. We consider that a major social responsibility for us.
- We are committed to developing careers and building pipelines to increase the percentage of female employees in managerial positions. The percentage of female employees in managerial positions in 2024 is 21.6%. That is a big improvement from when it was 10.6% in 2016.We have achieved our 20% target for 2025 ahead of schedule, and have set a new target of 30% for 2031. We will continue to aim for an increase in the percentage of female employees in managerial positions.We also need to increase that percentage to increase the one in officer positions.We will proactively continue to work on that with a multifaceted approach in the future.
[ Concrete Initiatives ]
- Female employee talent pipeline management:
- We are managing talent pipelines by individuals and departments for managerial positions of manager and above.
- We are also managing talent pipelines by individuals and departments in the same way for those who have yet to reach managerial positions.
- Since 2020, we have been conducting the Executive Mentorship Program, aimed at nurturing female candidates for managerial positions. Over the past six years, 84 individuals have participated in the program, from which 21 have been promoted and 15 have been promoted to managerial positions (as of March, 2026).
- We review new graduate and mid-career recruitment plans to expand pipelines according to the progress on those pipelines.
- Support with personnel systems:
- System for career planning available to all female employees
- System for mentoring by officers available to employees who are candidates for executive management positions
- System for the creation of training plans by individual female employees with their superiors
- Training
Category Training Number of Participants Group training Welcome Back Program: Program to Support Those Returning to Work after Taking Childcare Leave 14 Unconscious Bias (Mandatory by hierarchy) 36 Anger Management Training 41 D&I Events Well-being Week 188 Lectures and sessions with external lecturers An Inclusion Strategy That Empowers Employees and Drives Organizational Transformation 32 e-learning Human Rights Training(Mandatory for all employees) 1,923 Unconscious Bias (Mandatory for all employees) 1,923 Harassment Training (Mandatory for all employees) 1,923 D&I Training (Mandatory for all employees) 1,923 Harassment Training for Managers 355 Customer Harassment Response Training 1,732 Working Women and Health Issues 64 Support for Balancing Work and Nursing Care 105 Assertive Communication 164 - Partnership:
- We are participating in the J-Win NPO to enhance the quality of activities through exchanges with other companies.
- We are participating in the J-Win NPO to enhance the quality of activities through exchanges with other companies.
[ Targets (Metrics) ]
| Metrics | 2031 Targets |
Current (FY2025) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of female employees in officer positions ★ | 25.0% | 18.2% | |
| Percentage of female Directors | 25.0% | 12.5% | |
| Percentage of female Auditors | 66.7% | ||
| Percentage of female Corporate Officers | 7.1% | ||
| Percentage of female employees in managerial positions ★ | 30.0% | 25.5% | |
- *The data marked with ★ are in the process of third-party verification.
- *These targets are for BELLSYSTEM24 Holdings and BELLSYSTEM24.
- *The percentage of women in managerial positions excludes those seconded to other companies but includes those who have been seconded to our company.
Initiatives for Diversity of Workstyles and Support for Balancing Work with Childcare or Nursing Care
[ Basic Policy ]
- We identify diversity in talent and work styles as a key materiality and are promoting the development of a work environment that enables employees to work flexibly according to their individual circumstances. Through initiatives such as remote work, we are expanding opportunities for employees to choose work styles that are not constrained by location or time.
[ Concrete Initiatives ]
- We have introduced a full flex system with no core time.
- We prohibit long working hours. (We strictly manage overtime hours and promote the planned take-up of paid vacation.)
- Training
Category Training Number of Participants Group training Welcome Back Program: Program to Support Those Returning to Work after Taking Childcare Leave 14 Lectures and sessions with external lecturers An Inclusion Strategy That Empowers Employees and Drives Organizational Transformation 32 e-learning Support for Balancing Work and Nursing Care 105
[ Targets (Metrics) ]
- We are encouraging men to take-up childcare leave.
Percentage of male employees who take-up childcare leave ★ - 2028 target: 100%
- Current (FY2025): 80.6%
- *The data marked with ★ are in the process of third-party verification.
- *The above indicators are disclosed on a consolidated basis excluding BELLSYSTEM24 Vietnam.
- *The national average rate of male parental leave uptake in Japan is 40.5% (according to the FY2024 Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management), and we have maintained a higher rate than the average.
Promotion of Empowering Employees with Disabilities in the Workplace
[ Basic Policy ]
- We have promoted business together with many people with disabilities in a natural way. We have maintained the concept of a social model over our entire organization as our basic stance. We are striving to become a company with various workstyle options for individuals even from the perspective of people with disabilities. We are creating workplaces that make work more rewarding for people with disabilities.
- We are promoting various initiatives for people with disabilities. We have formed partnerships with those outside the company to manufacture chocolate and operate in-house cafes. This is based on Goal 17 of the SDGs: partnerships for the goals.
- We will continue to create an organization in which all the more people with disabilities can be a success in the workplace with even more diverse work styles in the future. We are aiming for sustainable and healthy growth.
[ Concrete Initiatives ]
- LED vegetable garden operation:
We are operating LED vegetable garden employing people with disabilities at the head office. We grow and harvest the leafy vegetables.
July 21, 2023: BellSystem24 commences LED vegetable garden operation at the Kamiyacho office to realize a sustainable society.
June 24, 2025: BELLSYSTEM24 Strengthens "Sustainable Center" Initiatives at Kobe Solution Center to Advance a Sustainable Society.
- Initiatives with partners:
- Chocolate manufacturing:
We are operating a chocolate manufacturing factory employing people with disabilities in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture with a partner company.
Partner: La Barca Group General Incorporated Association
November 15, 2018: BellSystem24 opens a chocolate factory with employees with disabilities commencing chocolate production to enable diverse human resources to achieve diverse work styles. - In-house cafe operation:
We are operating in-house cafes employing people with disabilities in our Headquarters and three contact centers.
Partner: MI CAFETO Co., Ltd.
February 7, 2019: BellSystem24 promotes the SDGs and the diversity project, opening a cafe operated by employees with disabilities in the office under the direction of Mi Cafeto. - Moth orchid cultivation:
We are cultivating moth orchids employing people with disabilities in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture with a partner company. We use the moth orchids we grow as presents for our customers.
Partner: AlonAlon (NPO)
November 30, 2018: Cooperation between AlonAlon and BellSystem24 for orchid culture by people with disabilities.
- Chocolate manufacturing:
- Training
Category Training Number of Participants Group Training Basic Training on Employment for Persons with Disabilities. 19
[ Targets (Metrics) ]
- Percentage of employees with disabilities
Percentage of employees with disabilities ★ - 2.7% (Statutory target: FY2026)
- Current (FY2025): 3.39%
- *The data marked with ★ are in the process of third-party verification.
- *This target is disclosed on a consolidated basis exceeding 100 permanent employees in Japan.
- Record of Hiring People with disabilities
Number of Employees with Disabilities FY2023 FY2024 FY2025 Japan 698 713 730 Taiwan 1 1 1 Vietnam 9 9 4 Total 708 723 735 *Vietnam refers to the record of BELLSYSTEM24 Vietnam which became a subsidiary in FY2023.
Promotion of Empowering LGBTQ Employees in the Workplace
[ Basic Policy ]
- Our human rights policy prohibits discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and sexual expression in all our business activities and dealings.
- We will revise our existing systems and regulations aiming to increase the sophistication of workplaces where all our employees can work with peace of mind.
[ Concrete Initiatives ]
- We revised our existing systems and regulations in relation to sexual minorities in 2019.
- We revised our work regulations, congratulation and condolence money regulations, job transfer handling regulations, overseas work regulations, nursing care leave regulations, and regulations on childcare leave and maternity protection for expectant and nursing mothers. Our aim is to also guarantee fair and equal opportunities and treatment for same-sex partners and de-facto spouses.
- We added a clause recognizing same-sex partners and those in a situation similar to that of marriage as spouses to the definition of spouses when revising those regulations. We have stipulated we will not discriminate in any way with congratulation and condolence money or business rights and obligations.
- We are also proactively engaged in activities to foster our organizational culture in addition to our initiatives with respect to our systems.
- We are continuing to strengthen our initiatives in compliance with the PRIDE Index since 2018. We became the first in our industry to receive the gold award in 2019 and we have maintained this gold rating ever since.
- Strengthening of employee literacy (e-learning and lectures with external lecturers, etc.)
- Employee LGBTQ ally declarations (creation of stickers and distribution to interested employees)
- Launch and activities of the LGBTQ & ALLY community comprised of volunteer employees
- LGBTQ awareness events (Bell Pride Month, introduction to measures against harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and dialogue between officers and concerned parties, etc.)
- We are continuing to strengthen our initiatives in compliance with the PRIDE Index since 2018. We became the first in our industry to receive the gold award in 2019 and we have maintained this gold rating ever since.
Promotion of Empowering Senior Employees in the Workplace
[ Basic Policy ]
- In accordance with the laws and regulations, we ensure employment opportunities up to the age of 65. For employees who wish to continue working beyond the age of 65, we provide a work environment in which they can work comfortably and offer equal employment opportunities based on individual capabilities regardless of age.
- Human resources will continue to be our most important management resource in a society in which the birthrate is decreasing and the population is aging in the future. Therefore, we will continue to proactively employ seniors in the future as an important force to enhance business continuity.
[ Concrete Initiatives ]
- We have operated a continued employment system since before it became a legal requirement and have maintained a 100% reemployment rate for employees aged 60 and over who wish to continue working.
- For communicators working in the field, we are also actively recruiting seniors and offering them shorter working hours and other working options if necessary. A senior version of the SUDAchi program, which provides special pre-employment training and sends people to the field if they lack PC and work skills, has been offered on site since 2017.
[ Targets (Metrics) ]
| Re-employment rate | 100% |
|---|---|
| Actual (FY2025) | 100% |
| Actual number of people employed who are aged 65 years and over (FY2025) | 1,608 |
Recruitment of Local Human Resources
[ Basic Policy ]
- Our basic policy is to recruit people without discrimination based on region.
- We have established recruitment organization responsible for regions (Field HR) in approximately 40 contact centers in Japan. That allows us to conduct decentralized recruitment completely rooted in the regions.
- We may set requirements for skills or qualifications needed in operations when recruiting people. However, even in such cases, we recruit people based on our human rights policy. We do not set any conditions concerning gender or sexual minorities.
[ Concrete Initiatives ]
- We introduced a pre-training program called SUDAchi on-site in 2017. We temporarily employ human resources we previously passed on hiring because of their lack of skills. We then send them out into the field after providing them with special training before they start work.
- We are proactively offering shorter working hours, re-employing people who have previously left us and utilizing seniors. This allows us to support various life events and stages. Many people have actually joined our company multiple times.
- We offer a work-from-home arrangement that allows employees to choose flexible work styles regardless of office location, and it is utilized by nearly 20% of our workforce company-wide.
- We basically recruit people in each region with our approximately 40 contact centers across Japan. We give our recruitment record by region below. Our regionally dispersed business model forms the foundation that supports the continuity of our business and the provision of business continuity functions (BCP) to our customers.
Number of Employees by Region(Fixed-term Contract Employees)(Unit: People) FY2023 ★ FY2024 ★ FY2025 ★ Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Hokkaido 535 1,524 2,059 646 1,941 2,587 631 1,975 2,606 Tohoku 45 164 209 78 201 279 130 348 478 Kanto 956 1,673 2,629 1,006 1,693 2,699 1,187 1,960 3,147 Chubu 54 131 185 63 190 253 89 175 264 Kinki 218 712 930 367 1,063 1,430 310 839 1,149 Chugoku 186 753 939 176 725 901 180 615 795 Shikoku 45 178 223 45 171 216 49 171 220 Kyushu 481 1,045 1,526 560 1,188 1,748 509 1,241 1,750 Okinawa 114 280 394 125 401 526 111 318 429 Other 2 8 10 1 3 4 4 7 11 Grand Total 2,636 6,468 9,104 3,067 7,576 10,643 3,200 7,649 10,849 *The data marked with ★ have undergone third-party verification. Data with ★ are in the process of verification. - We support local communities across Japan through employment with recruitment rooted in the regions. We define "involvement in local communities (solving social issues)" as one of our material issues. We have established support for reducing social disparities as a concrete theme in that. We provide support to solve various disparities faced by regions. An example of this is that we are contributing to sports promotion and regional revitalization. We are doing this through activities such as sponsoring a local sports club and hiring athletes in our facilities.
Sports Promotion Activities


Provision of Indefinite-term Contracts to Fixed-term Contract Employees
- We provide the opportunity for indefinite-term employment on an equal basis to all fixed-term contract employees who desire that after they have worked with us continuously for over six months. We have been providing this opportunity since before the revision to labor related laws and regulations.
- Part time employees work with us under the Worker Dispatching Act. We make sure to meet the obligations required of us as an employer of temporary employees based on laws/ordinances and guidelines. We appropriately enter into contracts, manage ledgers and assign managers in accordance with the latest laws/ordinances and interpretations of those.
Promotion of Empowering Foreign Employees working in Japan in the Workplace
- We do not discriminate on the basis of nationality or race in recruitment, hiring and promotion.
- A total of 124 people ★ with foreign nationalities work at several of our contact centers utilizing their Japanese and native language skills (current as of 2026).
- *The data marked with ★ are in the process of third-party verification.
- *The number of employees indicates the total number of full-time employees and contract employees.
Recruitment of Local Human Resources Overseas
We have a total of three locations overseas, including branch offices, subsidiaries, and affiliated companies. BellSystem24 Vietnam has almost all employees who are Vietnamese.
[ Targets (Metrics) ]
- We recruit people without discrimination based on region for 100% of our employees.
Target Recruit people without discrimination based on region for 100% of our employees Actual (FY2025) 100% (We have realized decentralized recruitment rooted in all our contact centers)
5. Data
The following data marked with ★ have undergone third-party verification. Data with ★ are in the process of verification.
| Managerial Positions | Officer and Corporate Officer Positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Women | Share(%) | Total | Women | Share(%) | |
| FY2025 ★ | 498 | 127 | 25.5 | 22 | 4 | 18.2 |
| FY2024 ★ | 472 | 106 | 22.5 | 22 | 4 | 18.2 |
| FY2023 ★ | 472 | 100 | 21.2 | 22 | 4 | 18.2 |
- *The results for each fiscal year indicate the numerical figures at the beginning of the next fiscal year.
- *These targets are for BELLSYSTEM24 Holdings and BELLSYSTEM24
| Percentage of employees with disabilities(%) | |
|---|---|
| FY2025 ★ | 3.39 |
| FY2024 ★ | 3.35 |
| FY2023 ★ | 3.17 |
- *This target is disclosed on a consolidated basis exceeding 100 permanent employees in Japan.
| FY2023 ★ | FY2024 ★ | FY2025 ★ | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | Total | ||
| Childcare | Number of employees taking up childcare leave | 27 | 33 | 60 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 29 | 35 | 64 |
| Childcare leave take-up rate (%) | 60 | 100 | 72.2 | 100 | 80.6 | 100 | ||||
| Rate of return to work after childcare leave (%) | 98.4 | 93.2 | 95.6 | |||||||
| Nursing care | Number of employees taking up nursing care leave | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
- * The above indicators are disclosed on a consolidated basis excluding BELLSYSTEM24 Vietnam.
- * The national average rate of male parental leave uptake in Japan is 40.5% (according to the FY2024 Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management), and we have maintained a higher rate than the average.
6. Evaluation by Society
Eruboshi Certification (Stage 3)
This program certifies companies with an excellent situation concerning promotion of the success of women in the workplace. (Acquired in 2018 / Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
Platinum Kurumin Authorization
This program certifies companies with particularly excellent initiatives to support the balancing of work and childcare. (Acquired in 2019 / Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
Nadeshiko Brand 2019
This program certifies listed companies engaging in outstanding initiatives to promote the success of women in the workplace.
(Acquired in 2019 / Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Tokyo Stock Exchange)
PRIDE Index 2025
This program certifies initiatives for sexual minorities such as LGBTQs in workplaces.
(2025 / work with Pride)