Developing Diversity Management

DEI Declaration

The Sharp Group focuses on what makes it unique—our spirit of creating value from fresh perspectives and not just following what other companies do. Our approach is powered by the individuality of every employee.

We build an environment where people can do their best work. By combining everyone’s diverse contributions, we drive long-term growth. Our goal is to develop innovative technologies and offer services that are uniquely Sharp.

DEI Objectives

Sharp’s business philosophy was established in 1973. It states: “It is the intention of our corporation to grow hand-in-hand with our employees, encouraging and aiding them to reach their full potential and improve their standard of living.” Guided by this belief, we’ve launched initiatives to support women’s participation in the workplace, help employees balance work with childcare and elder care, and increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Promoting Activities of Female Employees

Sharp formulated an action plan based on Japan’s Act on the Promotion of Women’s Active Engagement in Professional Life, which came into effect in April 2016. In line with this action plan, Sharp is working to raise the percentage of women in all job categories and increase the number of women in managerial positions. This will enable it to achieve further diversity in its workforce and contribute to society through better products and services. To this end, Sharp has set the following goals and is actively pursuing further engagement of its female employees.

Sharp Corporation’s Action Plan Based on the Act on the Promotion of Women’s Active Engagement in Professional Life

Promoting Female Employees to Managers

Sharp is committed to providing fair opportunities and strong support to help more women take on leadership roles in business and organizational operations. As of the end of fiscal 2024, the percentage of managers who are female was 4.4%. Sharp is promoting diversity with the goal of raising this percentage to at least 7.5% by the end of fiscal 2029.

Number of Female Managers at Sharp Corporation

Supporting Employees Returning from Maternity or Childcare Leave

Sharp has held reinstatement support seminars every year since fiscal 2014. These seminars involve an explanation of the company’s current circumstances and the various support systems related to childbirth and nursing. As well, employees who have returned to work after taking childcare leave share their experiences and provide advice on how to balance work and child rearing. Attendees are also given the opportunity to build networks with other working mothers. These seminars help to resolve anxiety during time off from work and foster a positive mindset about returning to work.

Starting in fiscal 2020, the classroom-style seminar was changed to an online seminar to make it easier for participants to join from home while looking after children. This change was the result of feedback expressed during reinstatement support-related interviews with employees. With more male employees helping raise children in recent years, the number of seminar participants has been growing. To build a stronger support system encompassing the returning employee’s family and the workplace, the online seminars now have videos for returning employees, their spouses, and bosses, and messages of encouragement from colleagues. Sharp will continue to listen to employees and incorporate their feedback as it works to become an even better and more attractive place to work.

Sharp also has two systems in place to support employees who are eager to advance their careers after returning to work from childcare leave. One is for giving one-off payments to employees making an early return from childcare leave and the other is for subsidizing the fees for non-registered daycare facilities for employees with children at age two or younger, who fall outside the scope of the government program for free early childhood education and care.

Expanding Opportunities for Non-Japanese Employees in Japan

With the globalization of business, Sharp is working globally to secure and systematically train human resources who can meet the needs of each workplace. In recent years, Sharp has promoted greater employment of international students and people of other nationalities residing in Japan. As of April 2025, Sharp has approximately 170 non-Japanese employees working in various departments and job categories. To avoid illegally employing undocumented workers, Sharp checks the residence status of all foreign nationals before hiring them. This follows the advice of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan’s Ministry of Justice. (Sharp uses an Agency website to validate residence card numbers.) In addition, Sharp does not keep passports or other identification documents from individuals.

Reemployment of Retirees

In 2001, Sharp introduced a professional employee system that reemploys employees who have reached the mandatory retirement age of 60. This stems from the company’s stance on promoting the utilization of senior employees who have a strong work ethic. It also takes into consideration employees who wish to give back and contribute to society through the skills and knowledge they have accumulated over many years.

At present, employees who have reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 (and who wish to continue working until the age of 65) are redeployed with the company. In response to the Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons—which came into effect in April 2021—Sharp is considering offering guaranteed employment up to the age of 70.

Promoting Employment of the Disabled

Ever since Sharp founder Tokuji Hayakawa established the “accumulation of community service” as one of the “Five Accumulations of Competency*1,” Sharp has been actively involved in social service and welfare. The entire Sharp Group makes efforts to promote the employment of the disabled and to create a better work environment for these employees.

Specifically, Sharp launched a recruitment website addressing the employment of disabled people. This website contains information on initiatives to hire such individuals to work in the Sharp Group. Sharp is also striving to make the working environment more accessible for disabled employees. For example, during training sessions attended by hearing-impaired participants, there are support measures such as voice recognition software and PC note-taking (a method for conveying audio information by entering it into the keyboard of a PC) so that voice communication is converted into text for participants to read and understand.

• Accumulation of trust, accumulation of capital, accumulation of community service, accumulation of human resources, and accumulation of trading partners.

Employment Rate of the Disabled in Japan

As of June 1, 2025, Sharp Corporation, a Sharp special subsidiary*2, and group companies*3 employed approximately 290 disabled persons. The percentage of disabled employees among all employees was 2.45%.

• A subsidiary that a company establishes and that gives special consideration in employing the disabled, in order to provide them with more employment opportunities and greater job security.
• In calculating the employment rate of the disabled, these are Sharp Group subsidiaries, other than special subsidiaries, that are certified by the head of a public employment security office.

Employment Rate of the Disabled in Japan

Creating an Accommodating Work Environment for LGBTQ+ Employees

Sharp strives to create a workplace where LGBTQ+ employees can work with pride and peace of mind. To achieve this, we are committed to fostering a deep understanding of LGBTQ+ issues throughout the company.

Specifically, Sharp conducts e-learning and study sessions for employees to deepen their understanding of sexual diversity and has set up a consultation desk. Additionally, under the company’s internal personnel and labor-related systems, same-sex partners and their families are treated in the same way as opposite-sex spouses and their families. These efforts were recognized, and in 2024 Sharp was awarded a Bronze rating in the Pride Index, an evaluation index for initiatives for sexual minorities such as LGBTQ+, conducted by the Work with Pride Association.