Promoting the employment and advancement of diverse talent

The value of diversity 
Promoting women's advancement 
Promoting the advancement of employees with disabilities 
Career opportunities and advancement for employees of all nationalities 
Initiatives for supporting LGBT+ employees 
Promoting the active participation of older members of the workforce 

The value of diversity

As indicated in Mizuho's HR Vision, we believe that the personal development of individual employees contributes to the stable and sustainable growth of Mizuho as a whole, and we encourage employees who differ in terms of gender, country of origin, cultural background, and values to understand, respect, and inspire each other. As such, we have worked for many years to promote diversity both in and outside Japan.

We launched our first diversity initiatives the year after the formation of Mizuho Financial Group in 2002. In this early period starting in 2003, our primary focus was on women's empowerment. We expanded the support systems for female employees who qualified for maternity/childcare leave and those who were caring for young children. We also promoted the proactive hiring of more women and established a dedicated office for these efforts at each of our core group companies.

From 2006 we entered a growth period in terms of promoting diversity. We actively encouraged employees to take advantage of the support systems available for working parents, striving to create a work environment where it was the norm for women to return to work after having a child. During this period, our focus shifted from promoting the advancement of women in particular to promoting diversity in a broader sense.

From 2012 our initiatives entered a more developed period. We expanded the work arrangements available in order to create more flexible options in line with an increase in working parents and the diversification of employees' career aspirations. Also, we enhanced the support available for women re–entering the workforce after maternity/childcare leave with the aim of assisting working parents to continue advancing their careers. Our efforts in these areas were recognized in fiscal 2015 with Platinum Kurumin certification, Nadeshiko Brand designation, and inclusion in the New Diversity Management Selection 100, among other awards and recognition.

In 2016, despite having made headway in the acceptance of diversity at Mizuho, based in part on feedback from our outside directors, we concluded that we need more diverse representation (including women and non–Japanese nationals) in positions of leadership with decision–making authority within our corporate management and business. We understood that our current level of diversity would make it difficult to sustainably increase our corporate value given the rapidly changing business environment and the fiercely competitive nature of the finance industry.

With this in mind, a key area to address was our HR management practices, which were built around the assumption of a Japanese, male, management track employee as the norm. We therefore decided to implement fundamental reforms in HR management and make diversity, equity and inclusion a key strategy, with the aim of ensuring the active participation and professional growth of all employees. We have since been accelerating our group–wide efforts.

Moving forward, in order to improve our ability to respond to various environmental changes, pursue proactive reform well into the future, and achieve sustainable growth, we will continue to work together as a group to achieve greater diversity, equity and inclusion.

We aim to ensure that diverse perspectives and ideas are reflected in strategic planning and decision making at the business and management levels. Harnessing our diversity to develop innovative financial products as well as continually refine the services we offer and the business processes which support our organization is essential for continually building our corporate value in the rapidly changing business environment and the fiercely competitive finance industry.

Mizuho's roadmap from women’s empowerment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)

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Promoting women's advancement

Approximately half of Mizuho's employees are women. With the aim of creating an environment where female employees are highly engaged and can utilize their capabilities to the fullest, we have established a Basic Policy on Promoting Women's Advancement in the organization centered on the "Four Rs".

Basic Policy on Promoting Women's Advancement: The Four Rs

Basic Policy		Objectives
Recruit	Actively recruit and acquire female talent.	Hire at least 30% women during new university graduate recruitment. Strengthen efforts to hire female mid-career professionals.
Raise	Support the activities of women in diverse fields, and their promotion to managerial positions.	Ensure a fair and unbiased evaluation process. Set targets for the percentage of women in management–level positions, and proactively promote women to such positions. Conduct career development support programs by position. Expand perspectives and improve skills by dispatching employees to external training.
Retain	Maintain and increase employee engagement by creating work environments that allow employees to freely exercise their capabilities.	Support systems available for working parents that exceed statutory requirements to minimize barriers related to childbirth as well as childcare, nursing, and other care. Provide training opportunities that allow employees to consider their own careers in light of life events. Flexibly implement personnel management policies to support employees balancing work and family responsibilities (e.g. arranging for spouse transfers in connection with the reassignment of employees to distant posts).
Relate	Actively promote internal and external dialogue to encourage a change in mindset for the organization as a whole.	Use internal and external training to create friendly rivalry and networking with peers. Share career objectives and role/part models in ERG for women. Use e-learning and other methods to promote awareness reform throughout the organization.

For further information on balancing work and family responsibilities, please see Promoting work–life balance.

Women's representation within Mizuho

As a result of Mizuho's expansion of support systems for employees balancing work and childcare, the number of female employees leaving the company due to marriage or childbirth has significantly decreased. Also, our many career education programs for female employees have contributed to an increase in the number of women in management positions. These efforts have received external recognition in a number of ways. In 2016, Mizuho was received the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Award as a "New Diversity Management Selection 100." In 2016, 2018,  2019 and 2020 Mizuho was awarded "Nadeshiko Brand" designation by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in recognition of our policies, goals, and tangible progress that reflect the promotion of women's participation in the workplace.

ESG evaluation and reputation

Challenges going forward

Advancing a focused management strategy to promote the active participation of women has produced a lot of female managers, particularly in positions up to Assistant manager equivalent and Manager equivalent. On the other hand, we recognize that our future challenge is to further increase the percentage of women in positions of general manager equivalent and above. Thus, we are now advancing efforts to increase the percentage of women in decision-making positions, including management, targeting 30% by early in the 2030s.

Specific measures to strengthen our efforts supporting the career advancement of female employees include career development support programs for women, creating an environment for diverse and flexible working styles, and working to change the mindsets throughout the organization.

We also joined the 30% Club Japan in June 2021 to promote a top–down approach to the advancement of women and created the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Promotion Committee in fiscal 2020 to enhance the cooperation among our business departments and further promote efforts across the entire organization.

Further information

ESG DataBook: Numerical targets (PDF/818KB)

ESG DataBook: Number of management positions (PDF/818KB)

Career education and support for female employees

Career development support program for women

We recognize the need to provide finely tailored support for female employees throughout major life events and stages, to ensure that they can maintain a healthy work–life balance without sacrificing the advancement of their careers. With this need in mind, from FY2016 we have started to restructure our strategic development program specifically for female employees, providing support at each career stage to ensure employees are able to successfully navigate new challenges and maintain a high level of motivation and pride in their work. In addition, we began implementing new programs including for executive mentoring and training for newly appointed female branch managers to strengthen the development of female management leaders to drive the organization forward from FY2022.

Car eer development support program for women 

Assistant manager equivalent	Various support measures under career development operations We provide training for young employees (both men and women) to support independent career planning in order to foster and promote leadership characteristics. Promote further success and growth as a business person through a mindset that eliminates concerns about careers, including balancing life events and work, and clarifies the image of mid- to long-term success.
Manager equivalent	Leadership Training Program We provide opportunities for female employees to consider challenges disproportionately faced by female leaders and to develop strategies to address them in building their own careers.
Managerial positions	Outside Expert Coaching and In-house Mentor Programs We provide opportunities for women in organizational leadership positions to create clear career paths based on their own characteristics and talents and to engage and polish their professional skills through dialogue with superiors about areas to develop in order to realize their leadership objectives and by providing opportunities for new job assignments. Executive mentoring Having executives volunteer to serve as mentors deepens the executives understanding of issues related to women in the workplace and contributes to the  development of female employees to lead the organization. Training for New Female General Managers We foster confidence and preparedness of general managers by providing newly appointed general managers with opportunities to learn ways of thinking and thought processes.

Overview of career support programs for female staff

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Consultations with female career advisors

Through our career advisory interview system, employees can meet with career advisors to discuss their career issues and concerns in detail.Among these career advisors are female career advisors who can provide advice on the particular issues women face in developing their careers.

For more details on the career advisory interviews system and group–wide training systems, please see Talent development.

A network for female employees

Mizuho maintains the MIW–NET, an employee resource group created to nurture and support younger generations centered on female managers working at Mizuho and the Mizuho Women's Initiatives Network (M–WIN), founded with the aim of enhancing connectivity between women working at Mizuho, also plays an important role in encouraging the growth and involvement of all women at Mizuho, through sharing diverse ideas and perspectives. For more details, see Employee connectivity.

As part of our training program for female employees, we conduct network sessions to assist internal networking and career plan development, with the aim of building vertical and horizontal networks.

Roundtable discussion with executive officers

Connecting with external women's networks

Mizuho regularly sends female employees to seminars and discussion sessions held by other companies in order to develop female leaders and support them in building external networks as well.

Roundtable meeting with female corporate officers

Action Plan based on the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace

We have established an action plan and are working towards the goals therein with the aim of creating an environment where all employees can enjoy diverse and flexible work arrangements and where women are active at every level of the organization.

Mizuho Financial Group	Action Plan (PDF/212KB)
Mizuho Bank	Action Plan (PDF/212KB)
Mizuho Trust & Banking	Action Plan (PDF/213KB)
Mizuho Securities	Action Plan (PDF/212KB)
Mizuho Research & Technologies	Action Plan (PDF/224KB)

Promoting the advancement of employees with disabilities

We are engaging in advancing efforts to create work environments and deepen mutual understanding of employee situations to provide an atmosphere where employees with disabilities can work with peace of mind and have full opportunity to continue to be active and fulfill their potential to the best of their abilities and individuality.

• Flexible forms of employment, such as working from home
• Conduct regular interviews at each workplace (to confirm and share personal physical condition, issues they are thinking about, etc.)
• Provide training for all employees to deepen understanding of issues related to disabilities
• Provide a consultation desk for employees with disabilities

 

In addition, employees have formed an employee resource group focused on disability, reaching beyond internal systems to further understanding among each employee in the group.

Further information

Details on recruitment of persons with disabilities

ESG DataBook: Percentage of employees who are individuals with disabilities (PDF/818KB)

[Introduction of Special Subsidiaries]Creating a welcoming work environment where differences are celebrated

MIZUHO BUSINESS CHALLENGED CO., LTD. (Available in Japanese only)

At Mizuho Business Challenged, employees with various different disabilities work side by side, putting their skills to use and dividing tasks based on each person's capabilities and expertise. Teams, including leaders and sub–leaders, are composed entirely of employees with disabilities. Employees are encouraged to work with a high degree of responsibility and independence. Employees are responsible for their own schedule management, adherence to deadlines, and quality of work. In cases where an employee has difficulty performing a task independently, job coaches devise new methods of work or create manuals that are easy to understand visually. Employees cooperate to take on a broad range of duties and continue their personal development. We plan to expand Mizuho Business Challenged in order to provide even more opportunities for employees with disabilities to contribute to the Mizuho group.

 

Career opportunities and advancement for employees of all nationalities

Mizuho is expanding its global network year by year, and the proportion of our consolidated revenue generated from business outside Japan is steadily increasing. Therefore, we are positioning our employees hired locally outside Japan and our non–Japanese employees working in Japan to take on a greater part of our business going forward.

Our offices outside Japan build professional teams with the right expertise for each location by employees hired locally who have insight into local business customs. These offices are also responsible for employee development and regularly implement programs on leadership, management, compliance, and other subjects.

Further information

ESG DataBook:Number of employees hired outside Japan (PDF/818KB)

Talent and Organizational Development Department: Focusing on diverse talent management

In order to better meet the wide–ranging and complex needs of Mizuho's customers and continue to provide them with innovative and sophisticated solutions in the global market, successful management of Mizuho's global network and leveraging of local knowledge and skills are key.

Mizuho believes that giving all staff, irrespective of where they were hired or where they currently work, the opportunity to develop their skills on the global stage enhances the organization's overall performance and ability to provide customers with innovative solutions.

The Talent and Organizational Development Department promotes the hiring, development, and advancement of Mizuho's diverse talent all over the world. We work to ensure optimal allocation of talent on a global basis and to support the career development of global leaders.

Since 2007, we have been continually expanding opportunities for our employees hired locally outside Japan to develop their careers, including by working in offices in countries other than their own. Many of these employees are now taking advantage of our Global Mobility Program. In addition, we have also been implementing a training program developed by the Headquarters for locally hired staff outside Japan while enhancing the cross–cultural communication skills of our Japanese employees and increasing their opportunities to work outside Japan as part of our efforts to develop talent with greater global insight and accelerate our diversity.

1:   Global Mobility Program
This program provides global career development opportunities to employees hired locally outside Japan and gives Mizuho greater flexibility to meet global business needs. The program facilitates not only personnel transfers to Japanese offices from offices in other countries, but also transfers between offices in different countries outside Japan.

Initiatives for supporting LGBT+^* employees

Mizuho's Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion outlines our goals to foster the professional growth and promote the active participation of our diverse workforce. Additionally, our Priority measures in commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Japan clearly articulate our initiatives towards building environments in which LGBT+ employees are able to follow their own work style without feeling marginalized or disadvantaged. In Japan, where same-sex marriage is not yet legally recognized, we are also working to make our product offerings more accessible to couples in same-sex partnerships. For example, joint housing loans offered by Mizuho Bank and trust products offered by Mizuho Trust & Banking.

^*   Throughout this website, the term "LGBT+" is used to refer not only to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals but also to individuals who identify as belonging to related sexual and gender minority communities.

In recognition of our efforts towards LGBT+ inclusion, five Mizuho group companies^* have received the gold rating on the PRIDE Index, which was created by Work With Pride, a Japanese organization that supports the establishment and promotion of LGBT+–related diversity management practices.

^*   Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank, Mizuho Trust & Banking, Mizuho Securities, Mizuho Information & Research Institute(Currently Mizuho Research & Technologies).

Policies

Our Priority measures in commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Japan clearly articulate initiatives aimed towards the advancement of LGBT+ employees based on Mizuho's Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Extension of spousal benefits to same–sex partners

Under Mizuho's HR and employee benefits systems, same–sex partners are treated as equivalent to spouses to the extent possible given legal and tax limitations in Japan, where same–sex marriage is not yet legal. Employees with same–sex partners are able to make use of benefits such as special leave for a wedding ceremony, or for caring for a sick or aging member of their partner's family, and are also eligible for family allowances.

LGBT+ advisory service

Mizuho offers both internal and external advisory services for employees. These services accept inquiries and provide advice for LGBT+ employees as well as their coworkers.

Changing employee mindsets

Mizuho is working to raise awareness and change employee mindsets, by providing internal training aimed at promoting understanding of the LGBT+ community.

In 2022, we held training for all employees, with the goal of preventing harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). We also conducted a questionnaire on LGBT+ issues, available to all employees, to assess the situation in the workplace, and we received over 6,000 responses. With these initiatives as a foundation, we will continue to promote greater change in employee mindsets going forward.

LGBT+ groups and networks

We joined LGBT Finance network supporting LGBT+ employees working at financial institutions in 2016. Since 2020, we have been actively participating in activities to promote understanding of LGBT+ issues, such as by being a member of Pride House Tokyo, a consortium project backed by organizations, individuals, and companies from various sectors. Since 2018, we have also been providing support for the National Partnership System Joint Survey conducted by the NPO Nijiiro Diversity and Shibuya Ward.

Sponsorship for, and participation in events at Tokyo Rainbow Pride

Mizuho has been a sponsor of Tokyo Rainbow Pride since 2017. This annual event aims to create a society in which people of any sexual orientation or gender identity can live openly, with pride and dignity. Mizuho employees march through Shibuya in the parade, waving custom Mizuho rainbow flags.
In 2018, as part of Pride Week, we held a life planning seminar specifically for LGBT individuals at the Mizuho Bank Shibuya Branch, with the aim of providing same–sex couples with information and advice to support their life in Japan. In 2019, we had our own booth at the Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival space for the first time. Also, throughout the 2018 and 2019 Pride Weeks, our ATMs around Shibuya (including those outside of branches) displayed digital signage and a video expressing Mizuho's commitment to being an LGBT ally. In 2021 and 2022, we joined with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC Group) to present an online booth and distribute information. For the initiative’s contribution to overcoming corporate barriers, the three organizations were recognized for Best Practices in the PRIDE Index 2021. In 2023, the three groups jointly held film screening and talk sessions on social issues during Pride Month.

Promoting the active participation of older members of the workforce

At Mizuho, we believe that career development is not only for younger employees in the early stages of their career. We also offer different career development support programs tailored to employees in their 40s, 50s, and 60s in order to ensure that they have the opportunity to think about their future goals and develop life and career plans in advance. This benefits both employees and the organization as it enables us to fully utilize the extensive knowledge, experience, and capabilities of the older members of our workforce. We also have a system in place to offer continued employment opportunities to employees who have reached the retirement age but would like to continue working. These opportunities enable post–retirement workers to put their skills to use in a variety of fields and are not limited to the area they worked in prior to retirement.

Continued employment

Mizuho offers opportunities for stable, continued employment to employees who have reached retirement age but would like to continue working. Our system for continued employment not only fulfills the requirements of Japan's Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons but also enables us to better fulfill the diverse needs of both workers and our organization in a mutually beneficial manner.

Further information

ESG DataBook: Usage of the continued employment system (PDF/818KB)