Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)
Our Approach
The SUBARU Group has set Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) as one of its Six Priority Areas for Sustainability, and has set its vision as “Continuously create innovation and values through spontaneous networking of the individual with the organization.”
We believe that when the capabilities cultivated based on the diverse personalities, values, experiences, and backgrounds of all Group employees are fully utilized, and when these diverse individuals unite as one, innovation is created. This, in turn, creates SUBARU’s unique and sustainable value creation. We respect diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture, and lifestyle, and aim to realize the world’s most advanced “Monozukuri” and “Value Creation” by creating an organization and a comfortable work environment where everyone can make the most of their uniqueness, and by providing fair opportunities for all.
- Diversity: Recognizing and respecting the diverse backgrounds, identities, and perspectives of individuals
- Equity: Addressing disparities in starting conditions and ensuring fair treatment based on demonstrated abilities
- Inclusion: Fostering a culture of belonging where all individuals can thrive in their own ways
Management System
Promotion System
At SUBARU, the DE&I Promotion Office within the Human Resources Department oversees diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I). The office has designated main activity themes as “women’s empowerment,” “employment of people with disabilities,” “supporting senior employees to take on more active roles,” “recruitment of non-Japanese employees,” and “LGBTQ+.” Among them, SUBARU has placed particular emphasis on women’s empowerment. In supporting women’s empowerment through top-down initiatives, we established a Women’s Empowerment Promotion Meeting in FYE March 2024, with participation from all Executive Officers, including the President. This meeting advances discussions on challenges and countermeasures for cultivating female talent across the company, linking them to concrete initiatives in each department.
Targets and Metrics
Employee Attitudes Survey
SUBARU carries out initiatives in a way that links DE&I to its human capital strategy. Similar to human capital strategy, SUBARU also uses employee engagement as an indicator for DE&I, with a target engagement score of 70% by FYE March 2029. In the survey conducted in FYE March 2024, the engagement score was 51%.
For more details, please see the following link.
Human Resources: Approach to Human Capital › Employee Attitudes Survey
Women’s Empowerment
Based on diverse career perspectives, we prioritize empowering each female employee to thrive in a way unique to themselves. To diversify our decision-making ranks and as one indicator for advancing women’s participation, we focus on the number of female managers.
So far, we have been working toward doubling the number of female managers by FYE March 2026 compared to FYE March 2022. As of April 2025, through new promotions to management positions and other measures, women accounted for 52 out of a total of 1,168 managers (4.5%), achieving the target by reaching 2.2 times the FYE March 2022 figure. Furthermore, we continue to promote women’s empowerment as an important topic. As a new target for the future, we have set the target of having 100 or more female managers by FYE March 2031.
Employment of People with Disabilities
The SUBARU Group established its Human Resources Department Policy on Employment of People with Disabilities in 2023. Additionally, we have set the target of a 3.0% employment rate of people with disabilities by FYE March 2031. As of June 2025, SUBARU has 368 employees with disabilities, a percentage of employees with disabilities of 2.60%. These employees are mainly active in the areas of production and development.
Human Resources Department Policy on Employment of People with Disabilities
- Proactive Inclusivity of Diversity
By working to employ people with disabilities, we aim to become a flexible and imaginative company in which diverse human resources can demonstrate their abilities. - Greater Ownership
In working to employ people with disabilities, we will build a greater sense of ownership toward realizing a society where these employees and their colleagues can enjoy safe and consistent work. - Fulfillment of Social Responsibility
We will fulfill our social responsibility to resolve social issues and realize a sustainable society in the employment of people with disabilities.
Established in April 2023
Initiatives
Promoting Active Roles for Female Employees
We are building an environment that enables women to continue working and take active roles throughout various life events. Our initiatives are centered around four pillars: Hiring, systems, support for career development, and fostering of culture.
Hiring
In FYE March 2025, the ratio of new female hires for administrative career-track employees reached 42%. To expand the hiring of women in science fields, we are implementing initiatives such as strengthening recruitment efforts by female recruiters, offering office tours for female university students in science fields, and holding round-table discussions led by female employees. Additionally, we host office tours for female junior high and high school students to increase the number of future applicants.
Systems
Supporting the balance between work and childcare is a key initiative for us, and we offer various systems such as childcare leave and short working hours in accordance with standards that exceed legal requirements.
For more details, please see the following link.
Human Resources: Work-Life Balance
Furthermore, our evaluation system focuses on efforts and results rather than the number of hours worked, and we have introduced a system that rewards accordingly. This fosters an environment where employees can thrive regardless of life events.
Supporting Career Development
We implement the Women’s Leadership Program for female employees who are close to assuming management positions, focusing on each individual to promote tailored development. The eligible female employees, their supervisors, and their human resources department collaborate to clearly define development points for each individual. This leads to concrete actions such as participation in training programs, thereby boosting the motivation of female employees. Additionally, through programs like Life Career Training and Women’s Networking Events, which aim to raise awareness about how life events impact careers and challenge women’s own assumptions, we support individuals in discovering their own unique way of living and shaping their career paths.
Fostering of Culture
We are fostering a culture that promotes the active participation of diverse individuals through training programs for managers on skills to leverage diverse talent and on unconscious bias, as well as by featuring workplace diversity initiatives in our in-house magazine. Additionally, at the Gunma Plant, we have been engaged in the Women’s Empowerment Working 4’s Project since 2022. This initiative, centered around female members in manufacturing, aims to foster an environment where women can thrive. It includes round-table discussions featuring female role models and seminars addressing women’s health concerns.
Status of Female Employees (SUBARU)
| April 2021 | April 2022 | April 2023 | April 2024 | April 2025 | Target by FYE March 2026 | Target by FYE March 2031 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of female managers | 24 (2.2%) |
27 (2.4%) |
31 (2.8%) |
43 (3.8%) |
52 (4.5%) |
Two times or more female managers compared to FYE March 2022 | 100 or more female managers | |
| Results vs. target by FYE March 2026 | - | 1.1x | 1.3x | 1.8x | 2.2x | |||
| Female general managers | 3 (1.2%) |
4 (1.7%) |
5 (2.0%) |
5 (1.9%) |
6 (2.3%) |
|||
| Female managers | 21 (2.4%) |
23 (2.7%) |
26 (3.1%) |
38 (4.4%) |
46 (5.1%) |
|||
- Note:
- Numbers in parentheses indicate share of women.
Creating Facilitative Workplaces with Universal Design
In order to ensure compliance with the Guidelines for the Creation of Comfortable Working Environment*, SUBARU makes improvements to the working environment, work methods, environmental facilities, and others in an organized and planned manner. We proactively adopt universal design for our common areas, such as breakrooms, restrooms, and cafeterias, thereby providing all employees with comfortable workplaces.
- *
- “Guidelines for the Creation of Comfortable Working Environment” as stated in the Industrial Safety and Health Act of Japan.
Promoting Employment of People with Disabilities
The SUBARU Group aims to create an environment where employees with disabilities can shine through their work. We will improve our corporate value by creating more facilitative working environments for employees with disabilities, making them better places for everyone to work. To ensure that all employees have a proper understanding of people with disabilities, regular seminars are held and information is posted on our intranet throughout the year. Additionally, for those in charge of hiring persons with disabilities at Group companies, we share information on the status of employment of persons with disabilities in the SUBARU Group and future efforts toward the legally prescribed employment rate. We also encourage participation in seminars to deepen their understanding.
Special Subsidiary Company SUBARU BLOOM Co., Ltd.
In 2024, SUBARU celebrates the 10th anniversary of the establishment of SUBARU BLOOM Co., Ltd. (SBC), its special subsidiary company, as a core company for the employment of people with disabilities.
The number of people employed by SUBARU BLOOM has increased from eight at the time of establishment to 92 in FYE March 2026. In addition to cleaning duties at SUBARU’s company housing facilities and factories in Gunma, we will begin new parts packaging operations starting in FYE March 2026, aiming to expand our scope of work to increase employment opportunities. In FYE March 2023, we received the Gunma Prefecture Governor’s Award as an excellent employer of people with disabilities in recognition of our efforts and achievements to date. In recognition of proactively employing people with disabilities, SUBARU BLOOM has also registered with Gunma Prefecture’s Supporter Company for Employment of People with Disabilities program.
In expanding employment, it is essential to collaborate not only with employees but also with their families and local support organizations. We will continue to advance DE&I management centered on coexistence with communities while creating workplaces where people with disabilities can thrive.
・Vision and Mission
We aim to create a society of diversity, helping individuals to bloom and have joyful experiences
Employees: Helping individual qualities to bloom, creating empowered members of society.
Company: With the power of many empowered individuals, blooming into a company loved by those in the SUBARU family.
Society: Using Bloom’s activities to help realize a diverse society by expanding the circles of its influence and support.
Status of Employment of People with Disabilities (SUBARU, SUBARU Living Service Co., Ltd., and SUBARU BLOOM Co., Ltd.)
| June 2021 | June 2022 | June 2023 | June 2024 | June 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employees with disabilities (Persons) | 306 | 321 | 328 | 354 | 368 |
| Employment rate of people with disabilities (%) | 2.37 | 2.43 | 2.47 | 2.59 | 2.60 |
- Note:
- The employment rate listed in the table is the actual employment rate based on the employment status of people with disabilities as reported to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on June 1 each year.
Supporting Senior Employees to Take on More Active Roles
In FYE March 2022, SUBARU implemented its SUBARU Business Staff Program and SUBARU Partner Program as part of revisions to its reemployment programs for employees after retiring at the mandatory age of 60. This revision and these programs are designed to help energize senior citizens with valuable skills and support their active participation. We operate our programs so that all those who want to be reemployed can work for SUBARU and other Group companies.
We also offer personal finance planning and career planning training for employees in their 40s and 50s who may be beginning to consider their plans after reaching the retirement age, providing them with opportunities to think about their future life plans.
Reemployment Rate (SUBARU)
(FYE March)
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retirees (Persons) | 97 | 130 | 225 | 264 | 338 |
| Applicants for Reemployment (Persons) | 72 | 111 | 179 | 219 | 280 |
| Reemployed (Persons) | 72 (19) | 87 (24) | 179 (23) | 219 (44) | 280 (48) |
| Reemployment Rate (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
- Note:
- Figures within parentheses indicate the number of rehired employees at Group companies.
Promoting the Recruitment of Non-Japanese Employees
The SUBARU Group hires human resources best suited to the policies and business activities of each location, regardless of their nationality. SUBARU employs 129 non-Japanese employees as of the end of March 2025. Of these, there are four non-Japanese employees in managerial posts at manufacturing and engineering departments.
In order to help non-Japanese employees to deepen their understanding of their work, we prepare our safety and quality policy-related documents, work manuals, and other documents in multiple languages. At the Gunma Plant, where we employ a particularly large number of non-Japanese employees, interpreters in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, and other languages are stationed at each of the facilities to ensure smooth communication between Japanese and non-Japanese employees.
Furthermore, we also conduct language training and overseas training programs for Japanese employees. This helps them to enhance their cross-cultural communication and understanding abilities, contributing to revitalizing the company and securing human resources in a stable manner.
As for foreign trainee workers, we basically provide them with education on safety and quality under the Technical Intern Training Program and also implement other measures to develop them into human resources who can utilize their abilities for their own countries after returning home. Our affiliated companies independently employ human resources and work to secure human resources in line with their own policies and business details.
Strengthening Mid-career Recruitment
SUBARU is actively pursuing mid-career recruitment to incorporate new insights and values and achieve sustainable growth. There were 4,747 mid-career hires working as regular employees as of the end of March 2025, and 240 of them were in management positions.
SUBARU is also strengthening its recruitment of experienced professionals in the IT field. SUBARU Lab, our software development hub established in Tokyo’s Shibuya area, where a cluster of IT companies are located, is at the forefront of SUBARU’s software development. It also plays a crucial role in recruiting IT engineers who possess both advanced expertise and extensive practical experience.
LGBTQ+
The SUBARU Group’s Human Rights Policy prohibits discrimination based on gender, gender identity, expression, and sexual orientation. To ensure that all employees have a proper understanding of sexual diversity, we conduct employee awareness activities and increase the number of allies (LGBTQ+ supporters) throughout the year. In FYE March 2023, online seminars were streamed to all SUBARU employees and Group companies. This has led to 287 people registering as allies and a growing circle of people supporting those identifying as LGBTQ+. On the employee welfare side, we have established an external consultation service for individual consultation, including about preferred identification within the organization and changing room considerations. Furthermore, from FYE March 2023, we have revised our benefit systems (use of company housing, allowances, leave, etc.) to cover same-sex partners. In recognition of these efforts, the Company received Gold certification in the 2024 PRIDE Index for the second year in a row, which is used by support organization work with Pride Association to evaluate corporate initiatives for LGBTQ+ employees.
Flexible and Wide-Ranging Systems
Regular Employment System for Temporary Workers
SUBARU has a regular employment system for temporary workers. We offer an opportunity to sit for an examination for regular employment to temporary workers who want to become regular employees and whom we have comprehensively judged to be qualified to take the examination based on the recommendations from their workplaces and other information. This system contributes to increasing the motivation and vigor of temporary workers.
Number of Temporary Workers Who Became Regular Employees (SUBARU)
(FYE March)
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Those Who Became Regular Employees (Persons) | 267 | 181 | 184 | 150 | 76 |
Reemployment Support System
SUBARU has established a reemployment support system for employees who resigned for reasons beyond their control, such as the relocation of their spouse.
Leave of Absence System for Accompanying Overseas Assignments
Starting in FYE March 2024, SUBARU has introduced a new system for employees accompanying their spouses on overseas assignments, offering them an option to take a leave of absence. Employees who would have been forced to retire under the previous system can now choose to continue their careers at SUBARU.
Initiatives at Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is strongly aware of the importance of diversity. Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB)* are core to its culture as it strives to create a space for belonging and an environment where all people feel a sense of opportunity, from its employees and retailers to local communities where its employees live and work.
SOA is committed to engaging with the SUBARU community so that all feel they are treated fairly and with understanding and compassion as it works to achieve the Love Promise vision. Going forward, SOA will continue its diversity initiatives to create opportunities for various stakeholders to realize their full potential.
- *
- DEIB is the concept that inclusivity of diverse human resources and making the best use of their abilities is essential for the sustainable growth of a company, and that this requires not only respect for all people, but also a sense of belonging, including the correction of unfair competitive environments and the provision of psychological safety, which greatly affects performance.