LIXIL makes pioneering water and housing products that solve everyday, real-life challenges, making better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere.
Global（EN）
- Global Site
-
- English
- Japanese
- Brand Sites
RESET
Global
- Global Site
-
- English
- Japanese
- Brand Sites
Diversity & Equal Opportunity
SHARE
Progress in FYE2025 (as of March 31, 2025)
- Percentage of female managers
- 17.4%
Our Approach
At LIXIL, we believe diversity is the very thing that enhances our uniqueness and competitive edge. Diversity is what drives innovation and sustainable growth as we strive to develop innovative products and services that meet diverse needs and realize LIXIL’s Purpose to “make better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere.” Creating a comfortable working environment and culture for all employees helps us become an organization of people who feel empowered to tackle difficult challenges with an entrepreneurial spirit and see their achievements justly rewarded.
To achieve this aim, we have set goals to establish a culture of inclusion and achieve gender equity throughout the company by FYE2030, and are promoting measures in line with our Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Strategy.
Fostering an Inclusive Culture
We added inclusion as one of the key metrics in our LIXIL Voice employee opinion survey, and are visualizing progress and implementing measures based on the survey results in order to embed the culture of inclusion that we set as a goal for establishing an inclusive culture.
Results of the LIXIL Voice employee opinion survey >
So far, we have conducted workshops and released e-learnings on a global scale for all employees to deepen their understanding of D&I topics such as unconscious bias and psychological safety. We are now focusing on the following initiatives.
D&I Promotion Program for Managers
We launched a dashboard for senior managers that visualizes metrics such as LIXIL Voice inclusion scores and the ratio of women in senior roles to enable each function to monitor the impact of their D&I initiatives themselves, and take appropriate actions based on these insights. We also published our own ‘Leader’s Guide to Advancing D&I at LIXIL’ that shares more practical case studies. This guide, which was designed to promote effective D&I, was developed based on external studies and incorporates internal case studies and feedback.
A total of 125 workshops on how to use the guide were held worldwide in FYE2024 and attended by approximately 6,000 managers, which equates to 86% of total managers. In each workshop, business or function leaders would act as a facilitator and share their own experiences and thoughts on how to use the guide. Participants learned about the importance of D&I, how to apply D&I in practice, and reflect on D&I principles in their daily actions. The workshops used real-life case studies on how to ensure psychological safety, followed by team discussions. Such efforts resulted in an increase of our score on the psychological safety question in the FYE2024 LIXIL Voice employee opinion survey, with a one-point improvement over the previous year.
LIXIL Voice Score on Psychological Safety
Leader’s Guide to Advancing D&I at LIXIL
Internal Tools to Raise Awareness
In October 2023, during Global Diversity Awareness Month, we shared an infographic that illustrated LIXIL's commitment to D&I. It showed that LIXIL respects the diversity of all employees and that clear targets and metrics have been set to create a work environment where everyone can maximize their abilities. The infographic also highlighted our dedication to ensuring equal opportunities for everyone through reforming human resources systems and providing training programs, how our inclusive culture fosters innovation, and the external recognitions we have received.
Infographic showing LIXIL’s commitment to D&I
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
LIXIL has established frameworks to strengthen employee-driven activities and build an inclusive working environment. To help coordinate individual regional efforts and create organizational change through these activities, in FYE2022, we set up five global ERGs focusing specifically on a diversity dimension: Better Together (Gender Equity), Multicultural, Ability, Working Parents & Caregivers, and LGBTQ+. An executive officer is assigned to each ERG to serve as an executive sponsor who ensures all ERG activities closely align with overall company policy and to reflect the feedback received through these activities in our systems, products, and services, thereby accelerating our efforts to realize an inclusive work environment and society.
Five ERGs
ERG Activities
ERG activities are led by steering members for each region and each theme. Information and event announcements relating to the theme are actively shared in each group on our internal social media, and employees are able to join all groups in all regions.
October is designated worldwide as Global Diversity Awareness Month and ERGs hold events that any employee can attend. Twelve events were held in FYE2024, including a session on fostering allyship by the LGBTQ+ ERG and a discussion on cross-cultural communication hosted by the Multicultural ERG. We also created a video relaying messages from the steering members of each region and worked together to promote ERG activities.
In Japan, we are trialing a real-time subtitling system as part of our ERG activities. This innovative system provides instant captions of spoken words, enabling employees with hearing difficulties to fully participate in meetings. It also assists non-native Japanese speakers in understanding the language more easily.
The feedback we have received through these ERG activities is also being reflected in product and service development. At the LIXIL Online Showroom, we have begun providing a speech-to-text service using an app powered by AI voice recognition, and are further expanding services that provide peace of mind to those who have difficulty hearing.
Learn more about testing new technology to help create comfortable workplaces for employees with hearing difficulties (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
Learn more about our Online Showroom speech-to-text service (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
Global Diversity Awareness Month
At LIXIL, we dedicate October to Global Diversity Awareness Month, an initiative designed to deepen understanding and drive action around D&I. Over the course of the month, employees participate in a variety of activities as an opportunity to understand how they can help foster an inclusive corporate culture.
A key highlight this year was the launch of our first podcast series. The creation of the podcast was inspired by employee feedback: a desire for wider D&I knowledge and a commitment to championing an inclusive environment. Members of the five ERGs shared their personal journeys providing valuable insights that resonated deeply with listeners and inspiring them to integrate these learnings into their daily actions.
Empowering Women
LIXIL is strongly committed to achieve company-wide gender equity by 2030. We have set clear targets and introduced concrete measures to increase representation of women in management positions across all corporate functions and business divisions, as well as job grade.
Our People and Organizational Development (POD) review process is critical to this commitment, incorporating a D&I lens into succession planning for key roles. In FYE2025, we conducted 26 POD sessions, resulting in the identification of 909 successors and 51 female high-potential individuals, representing 31% of the 163 high-potential individuals identified company-wide.
Learn more about our Key Metrics: Targets and Progress >
Learn more about Talent Development: Identifying and Developing High Potential Talent >
A direct follow-up measure to our POD process is the implementation of the Female Talent Outreach Program. This program empowers selected female employees to enhance their leadership capabilities by facilitating direct engagement with top management. These face-to-face sessions foster a deeper understanding of female employees’ career aspirations, contributing to more informed organizational development. The program also provides crucial networking opportunities, skill development, and career advancement support. In FYE2024, 54 female employees participated in the program in Japan, and the program is expected to be introduced globally in the future.
We are also working to develop promising female talent through NEXT, a selective next-generation leadership development program.
Learn more about NEXT Programs: Developing Next Generation Leaders >
The Female Talent Outreach Program in action
Furthermore, in Japan, LIXIL has formulated a General Employer Action Plan based on Japan’s Act on the Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace that involves promoting recruitment measures, building working environments that empower women and reforming human resources systems to ensure equal opportunities and equitable treatment for men and women.
General Employer Action Plan (Japanese only, a new page will open) PDF: 301KB >
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Database of Companies Promoting Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
Learn more about reforming our human resources systems >
LIXIL’s goal for new graduate recruitment is to achieve gender parity, maintaining an equal ratio of men and women. We proactively engage female students through targeted events, alongside articles and videos that showcase the impactful contributions of our female employees. These efforts are building a strong pipeline and enhancing our employer brand.
In May 2024, we held our first external networking event for working women and students. This event featured inspiring presentations from female executives detailing their career journeys, dynamic panel discussions with female employees, and direct interactions with participants, effectively broadening the appeal of LIXIL as an employer.
These targeted initiatives have led to a continuous rise in the inclusion score among female employees across LIXIL Corporation and its subsidiaries in Japan.
External networking event for women
Supporting Active Participation of Employees with Disabilities
LIXIL seeks to create an environment in which employees with disabilities can better perform and enjoy their work by tailoring jobs to suit each individual’s skills in a wide range of areas including R&D, production, sales administration, and planning management. As of June 1, 2024, LIXIL Corporation had 335 employees* with disabilities in Japan, constituting 2.59% of the total workforce.
Our LIXIL NIJI office that focuses on the employment of people with disabilities marks its 10th anniversary in July 2024. In addition to supporting employees with different disabilities to perform their work assignments, conducting career aptitude evaluations, and offering job development opportunities, LIXIL NIJI has been undertaking many initiatives to explore the type of environments that would enable employees with and without disabilities to work together most effectively. We strive to create a comfortable working environment based on barrier-free concepts by, for example, introducing software that increases the font size for people with visual impairment and adjustable-height desks for wheelchair users.
LIXIL is also strengthening efforts at each of its sites in Japan, including introducing sign language interpretation in training sessions and putting subtitles on videos for employees with hearing difficulties. We have been making various efforts and considerations to improve job assignments and working environments to suit the characteristics of individual employees. For instance, for people who are prone to anxiety, we ask their colleagues to clearly define their duties and promote active communication. For employees who get distracted by other people, we either leave an empty desk in front of them or allow them to work in a free space.
LIXIL aims to share these initiatives with other companies and government agencies as part of its aim to help create a society in which people with disabilities can play an active role.
* The number of employees with disabilities listed in the LIXIL ESG Databook differs because it is calculated based on the Employment Rate System for Persons with Disabilities by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Respecting Sexual and Gender Diversity
LIXIL is creating an LGBTQ+ friendly environment.
In Japan, we are treating same-sex partners in the same manner as married spouses and applying the relevant congratulation or condolence leave and financial payments, arranging times and locations for undergoing health checks, and recognizing employees’ preferences for either male or female uniforms.
We are also promoting internal activities to expand understanding and support. Employees are encouraged to watch a series of online lectures relating to sexual and gender diversity. They are also invited to be allies who understand and support LGBTQ+ colleagues through study sessions and workshops. Ally badges and stickers are distributed to employees who register as allies.
Promoting Flexible and Diverse Working Styles
We are working to improve our systems and working environments to promote diverse working styles that enable employees to flexibly choose where and when they want to work and to build their own careers. We emphasize the creation of working styles that produce high levels of output in an efficient manner. These system and work environment improvements are designed to reduce long working hours and improve productivity by striking a healthy work-life balance.
Major LIXIL Corporation Systems and Measures
| System/Measure | Eligible Employees | Overview |
|---|---|---|
| Remote work system*1 | Regular, part-time and contract employees | Enables employees to decide for themselves where they work. Seeks to improve labor productivity, enhance work-life balance, and facilitate seamless work patterns during natural disasters or pandemics (Remote work system includes working from home arrangements within a reasonable commuting distance to the office) |
| Flexible work system | Regular employees at head office, function management offices, sales divisions, indirect factory divisions | Enables employees to decide when they start and finish their workday between the hours of 5 am and 10 pm according to individual needs. *No compulsory core hours |
| Touchdown office space | Regular, part-time and contract employees | Facilitates the temporary use of external shared office services to reduce time lost when changing locations and improve work efficiency when out of the office or on a business trip. |
| Side job system | Regular employees, and contract employees (excluding employees on temporary leave or employees working shorter hours)*2 | The following two systems are used to support flexible working and employment and encourage employees to build their own careers.
|
*1 In FYE2022, LIXIL Corporation created clear definitions for “commuter employees” and “work-from-home employees” depending on the number of days those employees needed to come into the office. Commuter employees, who are defined as those employees who come to the office at least four days a week, are paid a commuting allowance. Work-from-home employees, who are defined as those employees who come to the office up to three days a week, are paid a work-from-home allowance.
*2 Includes contract and part-time employees.
Supporting a Healthy Work-Life Balance
We are working to expand systems and create a corporate culture that supports a healthy balance between work, childcare, nursing care, medical care and other commitments so that employees can continue to maximize their full potential through various stages of their lives. LIXIL Corporation is actively working towards a 100%* paternity leave utilization rate for male employees.
Our focused efforts from 2022 include proactive communication from HR, dedicated consultation services, and individualized outreach to male employees with newborns to inform them about the available system. As a result, the childcare leave utilization rate increased from 51% in FYE2020 to 90.7% in FYE2025. To further embed this cultural shift, we have started panel discussions and interviews with employees who have taken paternity leave, sharing their experiences across company social media channels.
* Only for directly hired employees. Encompasses LIXIL Corporation’s Papa’s Childcare Leave (Spouse Birth or Childcare Leave) system.
LIXIL Corporation’s Major Systems
| System | Eligible Employees | Eligible Period | Overview | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Childcare related systems | Childcare Leave | Regular, contract and part-time employees | Until the child turns 3 years of age (unpaid) |
In addition to statutory leave granted in Japan（until a child reaches the age of one or two in some cases). LIXIL Corporation has introduced the following initiatives that exceed the statutory requirements. 1. Able to extend the eligible period of leave until the child reaches three years of age 2. Can be taken in up to two installments 3. Even employees who have worked for less than one year at the company can also take this leave |
| Shorter Working Hours system | Until the child completes the sixth grade of elementary school (unpaid) |
Possible to shorten working hours than the defined standard working hours in a day in the following way.
|
||
| Adjusting work start and end times | During pregnancy or until the child completes the sixth grade of elementary school | Work start and end times can be adjusted by 30 minutes or one hour for pregnancy or childcare reasons. | ||
| Short-term Childcare Leave | 10 days a year (paid) |
Employees who care for children who have not yet entered elementary school can take this leave in order to care for an injured or sick child, attend vaccination clinics or medical examinations. | ||
| Papa’s Childcare Leave (Spouse Birth or Childcare Leave) | 10 days (paid) |
This leave can be taken by male employees until the child reaches one year of age. | ||
| Support for childcare services and related expenses | Depends on the system | ― |
|
|
| Nursing care-related systems | Nursing Care Leave | Regular, contract and part-time employees | Two years in total (unpaid) |
In addition to statutory leave granted in Japan (93 days), LIXIL Corporation has introduced the following initiatives that exceed the statutory requirements.
|
| Short-term Family Care Leave | 10 days a year (paid) |
Can be taken to care for family members requiring nursing care. | ||
| Shorter Working Hours system | Up to three years from the start date (unpaid) |
It is possible to shorten working hours by up to two hours than the defined standard working hours in a day. | ||
| Adjusting work start and end times | One month or more, up to three years (Up to three years within the first three years from the start date) | Work start and end times can be adjusted by 30 minutes or one hour for the reason of caring for a family member who requires nursing care. | ||
| Various Leave Systems | Annual Paid Leave | Up to 20 days a year (paid) |
Granted according to the number of years of service and the attendance rate in the previous year. Can be taken in one-day, half-day or hourly increments. | |
| Relaxation Leave | Up to five days (paid) |
Employees who have been granted 10 or more days of paid annual leave in the current year are encouraged to take up to five consecutive days of their annual paid leave for the purpose of refreshing their minds and bodies, engaging in self-improvement, or spending time with their families. | ||
| Memorial Leave | Up to two days (paid) |
Employees who have been granted 10 or more days of paid annual leave in the current year are encouraged to take up to two consecutive days of their annual paid leave to celebrate anniversaries and other significant days for themselves and their families. | ||
| Self-Care Leave | Up to 12 days a year (paid) |
Can be taken when feeling unwell during menstruation or pregnancy, to attend medical appointments for fertility treatment or to alleviate menopausal symptoms as well as when follow-up hospital visits are required due to the results of health checkups conducted by the company (including comprehensive medical checkups that require further examination). | ||
| Leave of Absence for Fertility Treatment | Regular employees | Up to 18 months (unpaid) |
Designed to support diverse life choices, ensure a healthy work-life balance and achieve D&I. The period of permitted leave under this system depends on length of service. | |
| Other systems | Career Return system | Regular employees | ― | Employees under the age of 65 years will be given the opportunity to return to work if they were employed for a period of three years or more before retiring for one of the following reasons. Reason for retirement:
|
| Shorter Working Hours system | Regular, contract and part-time employees | Number of days deemed necessary by the company | It is possible to work fewer hours than the defined standard working hours in a day for any of the following applicable reasons or with the company’s approval.
|
|
*Regular employees and contract employees of LIXIL Corporation and its subsidiaries.
SHARE
Official Page