Talent Management

Strategy

THK sees each and every one of its employees as an irreplaceable asset. They are the talent responsible for our company’s growth.
With the aim of creating a workplace environment defined by liveliness and mutual respect, we have taken the realization of a diverse and meaningful work environment to be one of our material issues, and in keeping with this stance, we continue to pursue activities related to respecting and considering human rights, the promotion of diversity, occupational health and safety, and talent development. With respect to talent development and the promotion of diversity in particular, we consider it necessary to further strengthen the way we build our talent portfolio and develop our talent in order to adapt to the changing times in which we find ourselves.
Going forward, we will continue executing our company growth strategies and putting our corporate philosophy into practice by promoting initiatives in the context of succession planning, hiring, mental and physical health, and childcare leave* in addition to material issues in the way that we manage our human capital.

*These issues were selected on the basis of being considered the most important of the 19 listed in the Guidelines for Visualizing Human Capital issued by the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan.

Talent Development Policies

1. Developing global talent

With more than 50% of our sales revenue coming from outside of Japan, the THK Group requires talent that can succeed globally. For this reason, we strive to elevate the level of language proficiency in our organization by providing employees in Japan with speaking tests and e-learning opportunities to support them in their study of English.
To further accelerate our development of global talent, we also have an international trainee system that allows younger employees to spend about a year working at a facility outside of Japan. In 2024, a total of three employees participated, with one being stationed in China and two in India.

2. Developing digital talent

Our vision is to transform into a manufacturing and innovative services company. Because we see the utilization of digital technology as a critical element of achieving this vision, THK has committed itself to the development of digital talent among its employees.
By leveraging the latest technology to drive innovation in our company’s structure and in the way we do business, THK aims to improve customer satisfaction and operational efficiency and, in the long term, to contribute to the realization of a recyclingoriented society and to solve social issues such as those posed by labor shortages. More specifically, we have been conducting data utilization training for all employees in Japan, including those at our production facilities, with the goal of having each location be able to utilize data autonomously. To further enhance the data science skills our employees possess, we also hold internal competitions that provide a forum for individual members to announce the results of their research.
In 2024, over 90% of employees completed the basic data utilization course, and nearly all employees in their 20s completed the beginner-level course. Going forward, we will be driving participation in the intermediate and advanced data utlization courses in order to accelerate our efforts to achieve more advanced data utilization such as demand forecasting and image recognition powered by machine learning.

3. Expanding training activities for all employees

THK is ever reviewing and expanding its ongoing activities in order to continue supporting employees as they hone their skills and build their careers. We maintain a compensation system that rewards each person for their expertise and capabilities and are currently considering how to expand this system even further.

4. Developing candidates for the next generation of management

THK recognizes that securing and developing talent with corporate management skills is essential for the ongoing development of the company. To this end, we identify positions that are critical to our business strategy and succession candidates for those positions. We then strive to develop these employees from an early stage in their careers. In addition, we hold reviews to discuss how candidates are progressing and perform assessments of their fitness for the roles they are meant to fill. Furthermore, with an eye to the medium- to long-term development of management candidates, we are considering expanding this program to include younger employees as well.
THK performed 360-degree assessments of and provided management training to 15 succession candidates in 2024. We are currently considering further measures, such as rotating job placements, to provide candidates with opportunities to acquire necessary skills and experience over the medium to long term.

5. Promoting diversity

THK considers the promotion of diversity to be crucial to the creation of corporate value in the medium to long term. Our work to empower women to thrive in the workplace is a first step in this direction.
Specifically, we are considering implementing career training specifically for female employees, employee round table discussions related to childcare issues, and trainings on unconscious bias for managers, among other initiatives. Our present goal is to have female employees account for 3.0% or more of management and 20% or more of new graduate hires in the sales, administrative, and engineering divisions.

6. Expanding hiring of foreign talent

Recognizing that collaborations among employees with diverse backgrounds and experiences lead to new business ideas and drive the medium- to long-term development of existing business, THK is actively engaged in hiring talent from outside of Japan.
In addition to proactively taking on foreign interns with backgrounds in the sciences, THK also sets up booths at job fairs hosted by colleges in other countries as part of our hiring efforts. In 2024, these efforts led to the hiring of three individuals.

Policies for Supporting a Safe and Healthy Workplace

1. Improving occupational health and safety

At THK, we believe that occupational health and safety are foundational to an organization’s operations. For this reason, the Production Division has taken up the challenge of creating a safe, pleasant environment that is easy to work in as one of its most important tasks, and it works to eliminate any harmful elements of the workplace environment that could contribute to illness or injury.*

*See Health and Safety for details about specific activities.

2. Promoting healthy management practices

THK promotes a number of initiatives to support employee mental and physical health as part of our efforts to create the vibrant and healthy workplace environments that are foundational to talent development. As part of our efforts to improve our employees’ work-life balance, we also offer support for balancing work with childcare and elderly care.

Metrics and Targets

Below are the metrics and targets for our talent development policies and our policies for supporting a safe and healthy workplace.

Benefits System

Work and Family-Life Balance Support System

Caregiver Leave System

We offer a caregiver leave system for employees to take up to 93 days off, split among three leaves of absence. Leaves of absence include time off for caregivers and accumulated paid leave.

Childcare Leave System

Options for leaves of absence and shortened work hours include a childcare leave system for those with children up to 2 years old, shortened work hours for those with children in school up to 6th grade, and childcare time for those with children up to 1 year of age. Leaves of absence include time off for sick child care and accumulated paid leave.

Accrued Paid Leave

With this system, employees automatically accrue a certain number of days of paid leave that they were not able to use individually. The maximum length is 20 days.

Donor Leave

This system allows employees to take a special paid leave of absence when they are registered as a bone marrow donor and are selected as a donor or potential donor (under certain conditions).

Educational Fund

Through this system, in the event that an active employee or executive passes away, the company will fund a monthly stipend or a monetary matriculation gift to their dependent children up to a certain age to support their education.

Performance Rating System

The performance rating system is designed to foster talent that will spearhead the creation of value for customers. As such, we evaluate employees on their contributions to the company in terms of their everyday roles and responsibilities as well as their individual innovation.

• The roles and responsibilities rating considers employees’ efforts and accomplishments in terms of their individual roles and responsibilities that have been set based on the organization’s challenges and main themes.
• The innovation rating considers the employee’s ability to devise and implement improved methods and, if necessary, reform past methods.

The aim of this system is to foster the improved execution of everyone’s responsibilities and promote forward-looking innovation.
These two ratings are evaluated and reviewed for each employee twice a year through a discussion with their direct manager.

Activity Results

THK Japan has established metrics and targets for our talent development policies and our policies for supporting a safe and healthy workplace. In 2024, we achieved these targets.

Scope: THK Japan

DX Training

Various trainings were conducted to develop talent that will drive DX activities. The results for 2024 are shown below. Three training courses were also added in 2024.

Scope: THK Japan

^＊ Started in 2024
"Do-it!" is an abbreviation that stands for "Digital Optimization and Innovation in THK!" Participants do data analysis and improvement activities for six months, and then they have a summit to share their activities and results.

International Trainee System

THK Japan started the international trainee system to develop global talent. In 2024, three members were assigned to locations outside of Japan as part of this program.

Awards

Five members of THK NIIGATA won awards for excellent performance in the 2024 Niigata Prefecture Vocational Skills Contest sponsored by the Niigata Vocational Ability Development Association. Award details are as follows.

National Trade Skill Test

The THK Group in Japan supports employees obtaining skill certifications as part of its efforts for enhancing employee abilities. In 2024, an additional 133 employees (107 men and 26 women) from 12 production facilities (Yamagata; Kofu; Gifu; Mie; Yamaguchi; THK NIIGATA; NIPPON SLIDE; THK INTECHS Sendai and Mishima; and THK RHYTHM Hamamatsu, Inasa, and Kyushu) passed the National Trade Skill Test.

Human Resources

- Out of a consideration for individuals’ human rights, from 2023 on, consolidated employee data broken down by gender will not be disclosed.

- Consolidated employees

• * "Segment names (by region)" is a breakdown of consolidated employees, divided by segment (region). The breakdown is divided into five groups: Japan, the Americas, Europe, China, and Other.
• * “Regular employees” is the total number of direct employees only.
• * “Contract employees” is the total number of contract employees and continuous employment contract employees.
• * ”Non-employees” is the total number of interns, consultants, and temporary workers. Temporary workers are recorded as an aggregated total that is not separated by male and female workers.

- Non-consolidated employees

• * "Regular employees" is the total number of direct employees only.
• * "Contract employees" is the total number of contract employees and continuous employment contract employees.
• * "Non-employees" is the total number of associate officers and temporary workers.
• * "Full-time employees" is the total number of regular employees, full-time contract employees, and continuous employment contract employees.
• * "Part-time employees" is the total number of part-time contract employees and continuous employment contract employees.
• * The number of new hires includes employees with disabilities.
• * The number of mid-career hires reflects those who were hired between January and December 31 and were still employed at the end of their respective years (employees only).
• * The turnover and turnover rate include the total number of employees only.
• * The ratio of employees with disabilities is calculated as of January 1 of the following year for each year.
• * Individuals with shortened hours are those who started shorter working hours for childcare during the respective year and have continued to work shorter hours for childcare as of December 31.
• * This excludes those who ended their shortened working hours due to maternity leave, taking childcare leave, or retiring during the shortened working hours for childcare.
• * Individuals eligible for or on childcare leave in and after 2022 are calculated according to the standards of the Act on Childcare Leave and Caregiver Leave revised in April 2023. (Due to the change in the calculation method, the reinstatement and retainment rates have not been calculated.)
• * Individuals receiving childcare leave due to a birth are included in the individuals on childcare leave.

- Gender pay gap

• * Regular employees include those assigned to a location in Japan. This excludes employees on assignment outside of Japan. Employees of other companies assigned to THK are also excluded.
• * Non-regular employees are contract employees or continuous-employment contract employees. This excludes temporary workers.
• * Employees working reduced hours due to childcare are also included in the calculation.