Supporting success for every employee

Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.

Further information
Human Capital Report

Ensuring diverse perspectives at the management and decision-making level

Creating places where individuals from all backgrounds can come together and thrive as themselves

Having a workforce with a multiplicity of values and perspectives, including genders, nationalities, and backgrounds, is essential for Mizuho to drive innovation and create business value. It is also essential to ensure equal opportunities and foster an inclusive environment where employees from diverse backgrounds can challenge themselves and thrive. By continuing to be an organization where all employees can perform their best in their own way and feel a sense of fulfillment and pride, we will create new value for everyone associated with Mizuho and for society as a whole. To achieve this, Mizuho actively promotes the empowerment of every employee across the Group and globally. Metrics that gauge employee empowerment show steady progress.

Roadmap for supporting success for every employee

Ensuring diverse perspectives at the management and decision-making level

We believe that incorporating a multiplicity of perspectives and values into everyday business operations leads to the creation of business value. At Mizuho, we have identified ensuring diverse perspectives at the decision-making level as an important theme and are promoting initiatives to achieve this.

Establishing a foundation for the advancement of women in Japan

Companies in Japan are required to promote more active roles for women in the workplace under the Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life. Mizuho is continuing to focus on the provision of stretch assignments and enhancement of networking to reach a ratio of 30% female managers by the early 2030s. In FY2024, we laid the groundwork so we can implement systematic, data-driven measures by visualizing employee data by organization, sharing issues among management, and strengthening alignment between business divisions and the HR division. We are also steadily increasing the percentage of new female graduates hired, which is an important indicator for the long-term promotion of the development and advancement of female employees.

Career development support for female employees in Japan

Fine-grained support tailored to women's issues at different stages of life is necessary in order for women to manifest all their abilities and feel a sense of fulfillment and pride in their work while achieving a balance between work and private life. We launched career support programs for female employees in FY2016 as part of these support efforts.
The improvements in skills and the changes in attitudes among female employees and management as a result of the programs have fostered a culture in which women can thrive. And through motivational efforts at various levels of the organization, we have formed a pool of female employees suited for managerial candidates. This initiative has helped increase the ratio of women in management positions, set as a KPI, including the new appointment of 100 women to general manager or equivalent roles in FY2024.

Overview of Mizuho's career support programs for female employees

Descriptions of career support programs for female employees

Initiatives to promote the advancement of women in new graduate hiring in Japan

We are focusing on activities to hire more new female graduates to establish a foundation for women to thrive in the medium and long term. To communicate the benefits of working at Mizuho, we enriched the content on our online recruiting pages to introduce role models and provide information on Mizuho's organization and systems. We also hold roundtable discussions for women prior to joining Mizuho, where they can have real interactions with our employees and gain a better understanding of the company's appeal and work environment.

*See the online recruiting pages for each company for more details.

Development of action plans based on the Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life

Mizuho has developed action plans aimed at creating environments in which all employees can enjoy diverse and flexible work styles and female employees can thrive at all levels of the company, based on Japan's Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life. With these action plans in place, we have been working to achieve targets.

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

Mizuho Financial Group	Action Plan (PDF/212KB)
Mizuho Bank	Action Plan (PDF/212KB)
Mizuho Trust & Banking	Action Plan (PDF/226KB)
Mizuho Securities	Action Plan (PDF/225KB)
Mizuho Research & Technologies	Action Plan (PDF/213KB)

Promotion of employees hired outside Japan

In order to maintain and improve the percentage of local hires in management positions outside Japan, we have established training programs and succession plans for local hires outside Japan, and we conduct training for senior executives in collaboration with management at the head office in Japan. At the same time, we promote placing Japanese employees with work experience in posts outside Japan that require handling global issues in order to enhance the global responsiveness of the head office in Japan.

Initiatives for the advancement of employees with advanced expertise regardless of nationality

The advancement of local hires in countries outside of Japan with in-depth insights and advanced expertise is essential to meet the sophisticated needs of Japanese and non-Japanese clients alike.
Mizuho recruits a wide range of talent from both Japan and other countries as well as runs training programs to maximize their abilities and provides environments where employees from all backgrounds can thrive globally.
We offer short-term training to local hires outside of Japan as well as the Global Mobility Program,^*1 which supports career development across operational sites. For employees in Japan, we provide opportunities to nurture their global responsiveness through language training and work experience outside Japan, and we encourage collaborations that respect the contributions of employees hired outside of Japan.

*1 Global Mobility Program: a scheme for international transfers intended to provide employees hired outside Japan with career building opportunities and appoint appropriate international resources according to business needs.

Securing and retaining mid-career hires in Japan

Mid-career recruiting led by individual business divisions has allowed for more flexible recruiting activities focused on priority areas. As a result, in FY2024, around 40 percent of all new hires, including new graduates, were mid-career hires.
As a result of our enhanced efforts in order to retain talent and promote their early success, such as thorough orientation during the onboarding process and follow-up support for each hire by career advisors, mid-career hires have made up 17% of our management positions.

Creating places where individuals from all backgrounds can come together and thrive as themselves

It is important to ensure diverse perspectives and values in decision-making processes in order to achieve robust results. Equally important is to build foundations on which our employees can connect with each other and with the company based on trust and respect, allowing our employees to take on challenges and thrive as themselves.
Our aim at Mizuho is to develop workplaces where everyone can work comfortably and take charge of their own growth. We are committed to creating environments where every employee demonstrates their many strengths and maximizes their specific abilities. Such environments promote the activation of wide-ranging networking in which our employees broaden their perspectives.

Initiatives to assist work / childcare balance

Balancing childbirth and childcare with work is a crucial part of creating supportive work environments. To this end, we have introduced systems that go beyond legal requirements, such as nursing care leave and reduced working-hour programs that can be taken until children enter middle school, and flexible work styles that are not restricted by time or location. We aim to empower our employees to balance their careers with their life stages without giving up their careers. We are also committed to promoting understanding throughout our organization through various measures, such as ongoing training to further employee understanding about work / childcare balance and creating specific training programs and guidelines for management.
At Mizuho, approximately 1,000 employees start taking childcare leave each year. It is now the "norm" to balance work and childcare while continuing to work. With the elimination of job classifications based on the previous HR system, we shifted our approach to measures that balance work and childcare in FY2021 from "taking advantage of childcare support systems while continuing to work" to "balancing work and childcare while pursuing a long-term career that aligns with one's individual aspirations and growing professionally through work". We realigned our training programs and revamped our support measures from this new perspective.

Overview of support programs for childbirth and childcare

Initiatives encouraging male employees to become involved in childcare, resulting in workplaces where all employees can work comfortably

At Mizuho, we have set a KPI to maintain the percentage of male employees who take childcare leave at 100% in Japan, in line with the Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members (Childcare and Family Care Leave Act). To reach this target, we have introduced various measures to change the attitudes and behavior of all executives and employees, such as providing five days of paid childcare leave and having managers inform male employees whose partner has given birth about our childcare leave programs and check whether they intend to use the programs. And since July 2019, the presidents and CEOs of the five core group companies have participated in the Declaration Encouraging 100% of Eligible Employees to Take Paternity Leave established by the Work-Life Balance Co., Ltd.
We hold information sessions for all employees and seminars led by outside experts for employees who have had children, those seeking childcare leave, and managers to learn about the significance of men taking childcare leave. We also send congratulatory emails to employees who have had children and their managers, among other initiatives to encourage male employees to participate in childcare. Additionally, we strive to address concerns that may dissuade men from taking advantage of childcare leave by introducing role models and sharing other information. To further encourage male employees to participate more in childcare, we recommend that male employees take one month or more of leave or leave of absence for childcare purposes in line with a policy established in July 2024 that male employees in general should take a minimum of 10 days for childcare. In conjunction with this, we hold information sessions to promote employee understanding, have established the Parental Leave Manual for Men, and have enhanced efforts to create environments in which men can confidently take leave for childcare by sharing information on leave status with department / branch managers. By encouraging men to take an active role in childcare, we aim to drive attitude and behavioral changes related to work style reforms, operational efficiency, and corporate culture transformation. This, in turn, helps foster workplaces where everyone can achieve a career that aligns with their individual values and aspirations.

Corporate Day Care Services

Employees are eligible for child places at more than 500 child daycare centers in Japan. We support our employees' smooth return to work by providing them with more options for daycare centers located near their home or on the way to work, to let them select one that suits their individual work/life circumstances.

Support for work/family care balance

No employees quitting the company due to family care responsibilities". The programs include family care leave exceeding legal requirements, reduced/flexible working hours for family care and seminars and manuals designed to relieve worry and anxiety.

Overview of support programs for family care

Initiatives for LGBT+ and other sexual minorities

Mizuho has continually prioritized initiatives to provide work environments in which LGBT+ employees can thrive as themselves. Based on the Act on the Promotion of Public Understanding of the Diversity of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (LGBT Understanding Promotion Act), Mizuho works to create an environment in which all employees have a deep understanding of sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI). Through various initiatives, SOGI awareness among our employees has steadily increased, and interest has grown. Some employees, however, who have gained understanding and appreciation for SOGI now feel anxious that their words or actions might unintentionally hurt others. To address these concerns, we implemented measures in FY2024 that included experiential and action-oriented activities.
While we are seeing changes in employees' attitudes and behaviors, the elimination of unconscious biases remains a work in progress. We will continue our awareness-raising efforts to ensure our organization is one where every employee's SOGI is respected.

Initiatives to help employees with disabilities thrive

To realize workplace environments where employees with disabilities can demonstrate their skills and individuality, it is important to both support individual employees and cultivate greater understanding among their colleagues. We held a talk event in FY2024 in which employees with disabilities described their work styles and ideas to further understanding of employees with disabilities. Comments from participants — such as "I realized that although I believed I understood employees with disabilities, I actually did not fully appreciate their circumstances" and "I learned that consideration for people with disabilities is important not only for them but also for everyone else" — indicate that the talk event helped deepen understanding among our employees.

Initiatives to promote understanding of unconscious biases

Unbiased decision-making and business operations are essential to ensure equal opportunities and encourage employees to stay true to themselves. Mizuho has been raising awareness about inequalities resulting from unconscious biases by providing employees with educational content and information.
For example, we provide unconscious-bias training to all employees to help them recognize their own unconscious prejudices and stereotypes and integrate measures to counter unconscious biases into their thoughts and actions. We also issue training and manuals to eliminate biases against LGBT+ individuals and people with disabilities. In FY2024, we distributed awareness-raising leaflets to all employees on the theme of microaggressions (small acts of unconscious discrimination).
Some group companies provide annual unconscious-bias training for employees who are interested. In FY2024, the training covered how to deal with microaggressions in the workplace and conducted group work. Comments from training participants included "Learning coping methods when you actually face microaggressions leads to improvements not only for yourself but also for your team and organization as a whole" and "Understanding the importance of executing operations with an awareness of unconscious biases is crucial for enhancing psychological safety in the workplace". These comments demonstrated that individual employee's shifts in attitudes contribute to organizational transformations. We will continue to enhance efforts to reduce and eliminate unconscious biases.

Further information

Human Capital Report List of data (Supporting success for every employee) (PDF/6,886KB)