Positioning the low number of female employees as the most important issue, we are strengthening our recruitment of new graduates and mid-career hires in managerial positions.
We are persistently working to maintain and enhance our human resource pipeline starting from the hiring phase to developing and promoting core personnel. Concurrently, we are working to improve the company-wide organizational culture and environment by reforming the leadership of superiors, improving feedback, providing flexible work styles, and supporting autonomous career formation so that women themselves and their superiors can look forward to their career advancement.
We have set a target of 7% in the ratio of female managers by FY2025 (Furukawa Electric) as a sustainability indicator in the 2025 Medium-term Management Plan.
We regularly conduct lectures by experts to promote understanding of diversity and inclusion, and a company-wide forum for the purpose of promoting women's activities.
In FY 2018, we held a panel discussion by executives and managers of Furukawa Electric LatAm S.A.(Brazil) and OFS Fitel, LLC (the US), and exchanged views very actively about respecting the diversity of individuals and the importance of being involved and helping each other.
To encourage women to work in key roles in succeeding in business, Furukawa Electric’s female employees are sent to Cross-industrial business leadership session, which is participated by approx. 70 female mid-career employees from 13 companies including our own. In FY2023 it was held at Furukawa Electric and a keynote speech, networking lunch, panel discussion, and group work were given.
Reference: Furukawa Electric Platform（only available in Japanese）
As a manufacturer, one of Furukawa Electric's major missions is to ensure that technology is passed on to the future. We also consider the development of female engineers to be important from the perspective of diversity.
We can expect new innovations from a variety of ideas created by bringing together a diverse group of people. However, the share of female researchers and engineers in science and engineering fields in Japan is still low, and we see this as an issue that must be resolved in order to strengthen our human resources. To this end, we are engaged in activities to broaden the career choices of female students to science and engineering occupations.
Furukawa Electric agreed and held "Science and Engineering Challenge", as known as "Riko-challe”, an initiative led by the Gender Equality Bureau of the Cabinet Office, and has been holding corporate experience events since FY2022. We invited junior high and high school students to the Furukawa Electric headquarters for a company introduction, a tour of the company, a technical experience program, and a panel discussion with our senior employees in FY 2023.
Reference: Furukawa Electric Platform（only available in Japanese）
We dispatch our female technical employees to a girl's high school in Kanagawa Prefecture to give a lecture every year. For high school freshmen who have not yet chosen a career path in the humanities or sciences, the technical employees speak about the work of technical employees in a company, their daily schedules, and their career choices.
As part of our contribution to the field of photonics, we have sponsored and established “IEEE Photonics Society “Women in Photonics Excellence Award”, which recognizes exceptional technical, educational, or societal contribution by a woman. Through sponsorship of this award, we are contributing to the promotion of women in the field of photonics.
This is the message video to promote women's careers produced by Furukawa Electric LatAm S.A., one of the Furukawa Electric Group companies.
Film produced by Furukawa Electric LatAm S.A.(YouTube)