The JT Group believes that effort to create a work environment where diverse people can continue to perform at the top of their potential leads to sustainable growth.

Diversity forms the foundation of a company’s success and contributes to real sustainable growth. We work to create environments that are open to diversity, where all employees are treated equally regardless of different backgrounds and values and continue to perform at their best.

Including all talents

The Group is a workplace for people from over 100 nationalities. We consider their diversity in terms of race, faith, ethnicity, background, birthplace, gender, age, ability or disability, sexual orientation and marital status to be as valuable as their individual experiences and specialties. Moreover, we aspire to be an organization that respects all employees and helps them feel they belong to one team, with psychological safety.

We continuously hire people with various backgrounds and values and conduct activities to help employees value diversity, such as a range of seminars and events for sharing diverse values. We have also set out our approach to employing people with disabilities, aiming to create an inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive. In Japan, we are working to develop environments in which foreign talent can thrive, including multilingual measures. We are also working to give same-sex partners and all types of families equal access to the benefits and programs the Group offers to its employees, so we can be an equal-opportunity organization, impartial about differences in individual preferences or orientation.

These initiatives made Ernst & Young Global Limited recognize for the second time JTI as one of the first in the tobacco industry worldwide to meet their Global Equality Standard. We are steadily making gender and LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts in Japan as well, and in 2024, JT was included for a ninth consecutive year in the Gold PRIDE Index of the nonprofit organization work with Pride.

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Please see External recognition for details.

Gender equality—Unleashing the talent of our women

Gender equality is a high priority in Group operations. Assuring equality at all career levels, particularly by increasing the ratio of women in managerial positions, is an important challenge. In 2023, the Group announced a target of having women in 30% of its managerial positions by 2030. To that end, we have introduced women’s representation in managerial positions as a new indicator (KPI) for the compensation of JT’s Directors of the Board (who also serve as Executive Officers) and Corporate Senior Vice Presidents starting in 2025. In addition, we promote the career development of female employees with support for their growth and messaging from our senior managers, while also organizing seminars to promoting understanding of the obstacles in women’s career paths. These efforts are making steady progress, with the ratio of women in managerial positions reaching 24.9% in 2024 (23.5% in 2023). We will continue to promote multiple initiatives to help accelerate women’s career development and achieve gender equality Group-wide, while continuously nurturing the pipeline of female management candidates and monitoring the gender pay gap.

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For information about our gender equity initiatives in Japan, please see JT Human Resource Management.

*

We calculated women’s wages relative to men’s (100%) by nation and company, then calculated a weighted average according to number of employees

The Group runs multiple businesses globally, so its sustainable growth requires a sufficient talent pool for each location and business.

For us to remain a company that is attractive to diverse people and retain enough excellent talent, we set attractive compensation levels for each location and business, and recruit candidates with a focus on value, in the way that best suits each business. We also hire and develop talent who will lead the Group as senior management and each business as a leader, who expand and optimize our businesses and who explore new areas where we can offer value to society.

Various approaches to secure excellent talent

The Group sets compensation benchmarks specific to each country and business to ensure our compensation and benefit packages are attractive and competitive. We also put effort into communicating the attractiveness of Group companies to excellent employee prospects. To that end, JTI has successfully established an excellent company brand by being recognized as a Global Top Employer for 11 consecutive years by the Top Employer Institute , while continuing hiring campaigns specific to each country. Furthermore, when hiring new graduates, in addition to hiring people who aim to build a wide-ranging career that goes beyond the functions, we also hire by job type from the joining stage. When we also hire mid-career employees, we disclose roles and responsibilities at the time they join the Company. Through these initiatives, we create an environment and career development supportive of meeting our employees’ future direction and needs, and secure the talent pool we need for each business.

Pipeline for executives and business leaders

For the sustainable growth of the JT Group, we think it is important not only to recruit talent needed for each location and business, but also to have initiatives to promote them through talent development. To secure a pool of internal candidates as future Group executives and business leaders over the medium and long term, we provide early-stage training for both selected candidates and open applications. We are working to pool talent by providing opportunities for prospects at every level to gain broad leadership experience by working in a range of positions around the world. In 2024, about 500 people participated in the program as executive and leadership candidates. For about 200 people, senior management team and business leaders monitor their development status, and discuss their individual potential, medium- and long-term growth challenges and career plan, referring to objective external assessments and their competitiveness in the labor market.

Securing human resources to explore areas of new value

The Group explores opportunities to offer new value over the medium and long term while working to expand existing businesses. In addition to M&A, we conduct activities for providing fulfilling moments in new forms through the exploration and creation of future business seeds at our corporate R&D organization, D-LAB, under the leadership of a dedicated Senior Vice President. In order to continuously develop talent for these activities, we are working to recruit and develop people to support this new business development by operating a training program that includes growth opportunities not only within the Company but also outside the Company, and by adopting a unique HR policy that is tailored to the characteristics of each activity based on the differences in working styles and skills required.

The JT Group notes the importance of creating environments that help employees make the most of their individual strengths and contribute to the optimum performance of the organization. We maintain systems that support each employee in choosing a workstyle that suits them. We are working to create a workplace with a high level of psychological safety so that employees can feel safe and demonstrate their strengths and skills.

Work-life balance

The Group uses the advantages of both in-office and remote work and encourages its employees to choose the workstyle that each finds most suitable. A case in point is our flextime system that does not impose a fixed work schedule. By the best combination of flexible schedules and work locations with the possibility of remote working, we believe each employee can make the most of their strengths and live fully, which will lead to optimal performance for the organization.

To make working easy for employees in all life stages, the Group assists them in balancing work and family. Under the Global Family Leave Policy, all employees working in JT and global tobacco business sites are entitled paid equivalent leave of up to 20 weeks when they become parents, regardless of gender, sexual orientation and the way the employees become parents (natural birth, adoption or surrogacy). The ratio of employees for the overall JT Group who took parental leave* in 2024 has increased to 98% (95% in 2023). In particular, the ratio for male employees grew steadily to 96% (91% in 2023). In Japan, we are working to improve systems for leave related to care of children and seniors and for other family-related purposes, and we encourage employees to make use of them. In 2025, we began aiming to achieve 100% parental leave uptake among male employees in Japan by 2030. By increasing the ratio of parental, irrespective of gender, we are promoting a balance of work with childcare and home life for employees.

*

Of the employees who have become a parent via adoption, surrogacy or birth, the percentage of employees in FY2024 who took parental leave not only the statutory leave, but also those who took parental leave further approved by the company. If there are any employees who have taken parental leave for their child born in the previous fiscal years, the ratio of employees who took parental leave may exceed 100% in this fiscal year

Healthy individuals and relationships

The JT Group implements continuous initiatives to improve compliance and conducts annual JT Group employee engagement surveys as well as pulse surveys as needed. The results illustrate the state of our organizations and inspire evolution so all employees feel safe and can make the most of their strengths and talents. In Japan in 2016, the local group set up an organization specialized in assisting organizational development, which plans and conducts initiatives to improve employee engagement in Group companies and divisions. In addition, we believe trusting relationships between employees and their line managers and among coworkers is important in shaping workplaces where diverse individuals can truly thrive. We set up regular dialogue opportunities, conduct 360-degree surveys and offer one-on-one assistance tools to improve the quality of dialogue.

The JT Group recognizes that fostering human capital requires work environments that actively promote health, safety, and wellbeing for employees, contractors, and visitors alike. By supporting individuals physically and mentally, we aim to create the conditions where everyone can fully apply their capabilities and engage meaningfully in their work. That is why we have stated our aim of zero harm in the JT Group Health and Safety Policy, and put a range of measures in place, such as raising employee safety awareness. We also put effort into health-related support to help each employee promote their own health.

JT Group Health and Safety Policy

To further promote health and assure safety at work, the Group has established the JT Group Health and Safety Policy approved by the Board of Directors.

Specifically, we implement health and safety initiatives under the responsibility of the JT CEO to realize “WHAT WE AIM” in the policy (described below) and enhance Group governance under a system supervised by the Board of Directors. Based on the policy, we have set up monitoring indicators to track the Group’s health and safety initiatives, and institute measures promptly as they are determined as necessary.

Each business within the JT Group must maintain a Health and Safety Policy aligned with the Group’s Policy. These policies must be committed to preventing injuries and illnesses, complying with legal requirements, involving workers in safety matters, and driving continuous improvement. They must address key risks, outline prioritized action plans, be reviewed regularly, communicate to all employees and contractors, and make available to relevant stakeholders.

Initiatives to prevent work accidents

The JT Group is committed to achieving zero work accidents by implementing preventive measures tailored to the specific risks of each operation. Risk assessments have identified driving vehicles and machinery operation as high-risk activities. In response, we are focusing on raising employee awareness and enhancing work environments to reduce these risks and promote safer practices.

At overseas locations with driving vehicles, we are introducing an app that analyzes driver behavior and provides tailored individual advice. The app is currently being used by around 3,000 drivers. We also hold safe driving trainings for drivers who have a high risk of causing accidents. In addition, we have introduced guidelines aimed at preventing accidents involving pedestrians to increase driver safety awareness and risk management capabilities, while fostering a safety culture.

On locations with machinery operation, we are involved in the formulation of targets and plans, the identification of risks through hazard prediction activities, the implementation of measures to reduce risks such as modifying machinery, and the evaluation and auditing of these initiatives.

Among these, in the tobacco business we have created procedure manuals for safe operations during machine operation and maintenance, and roll out globally. We also collaborate with machinery manufacturers to improve the design and safety standards of machinery. Moreover, in addition to complying with local laws and regulations, we are working to obtain ISO 45001 certification, the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, on a global basis. Approximately 70% of tobacco factories have obtained this certification.

In offices and research centers, we are implementing various initiatives according to the features of operations to reduce the risk of work accidents.

Looking ahead, we will carefully monitor the status of work accident occurrences in the Group, and continuously promote effective measures toward the achievement of zero work accidents.

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Please refer to the JT website for data on contractors.

*1

The number of people per 1,000,000 working hours

*2

The number of days per 1,000 working hours

Initiatives to promote physical and mental health

The JT Group also puts effort into initiatives to help promote the mental and physical health of each employee. We are designing and introducing systems to better support employees with spontaneous health action.

For mental health support, in Japan we offer employees opportunities to self-assess their stress conditions and this helps us to implement workplace-specific measures based on the results of analyses, to facilitate access to specialists and counselors, and to offer training and other measures to prevent employees’ mental issues.

Overseas, we utilize tools to assess mental health status, run mental health seminars, train Mental Health First Aiders (counselors) who can provide an initial response in-house, and promote meaningful communication between managers and their members as part of a range of global initiatives.

For physical health support, we better understand risk through data gathering related to occupational health and develop consistent approaches. If the issues are attributed to the work or workplace, we take appropriate measures immediately to protect employees’ health and prevent recurrences. At JT, KENKO Investment for Health is promoted under the leadership of the CEO, and occupational health staffs are assigned in 11 key areas across Japan to help employees take care of their physical and mental health. Specifically, occupational health staffs across Japan have one-to-one interviews with employees and provide them with support programs to meet issues and needs. Our support systems allow each employee to take initiative to promote their own health and that of their families as well, providing financial assistance for testing and vaccinations they have selected.

In collaboration with Group companies in Japan, we set up a walking challenge program. This unique initiative has created a range of opportunities to promote health, revitalize the organization and contribute to society in combination with TABLE FOR TWO.

JT has been certified as Outstanding Organizations of KENKO Investment for Health (White 500) for nine consecutive years under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

To expand our human capital, the JT Group focuses on providing learning and development opportunities for all employees to support their career aspirations based on their self-prepared development plans.

Encouraging self-motivated career development

The Group works to create opportunities for employees to think about and choose their careers.

Every year, employees have a career discussion with the line manager about their aspirations and plans. We also offer them opportunities to explore a diverse range of career options beyond the function in which they currently work. JT’s career challenge initiative is a case in point, allowing employees to apply for a position of their choice once a year. In addition, in 2024 JT launched career roundtables and internal internship programs. Another initiative is the job posting of the tobacco business that globally discloses open positions, inviting employees to apply. In FY2024, 4,355 positions became open and 8,703 employees applied for them, demonstrating the growing use of the system to support self-motivated career development.

Learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of employees

The Group responds to the growth needs of employees and provides learning opportunities to help realize diverse career plans. In identifying the strengths and challenges of employees in their various development stages, we have introduced original learning programs that effectively employ on-the-job training, level-specific training, off-the-job learning of the employee’s choice, and assessments. We offer training options such as LinkedIn Learning and Udemy, allowing employees to choose content and embrace opportunities to study on their own initiative. Building an online learning environment is also a high priority, to help free employees from time-space constraints.

Foster a feedback culture for employee growth

The Group values its organizational culture of interest in employee growth and provides extensive support to help.

To cultivate feedback culture, we promote ongoing regular one-to-one meaningful conversation which includes discussions about each employee’s strengths and development areas. In addition to various training, materials are being provided, and we offer the possibility of mentors within the organization as well as external coaches to support employees in their growth and development. In 2024, about 97% of Group employees participated in feedback meetings about their achievements as well as advice leading to improvement.

For the entire organization to support growth for every employee, managers meet ahead of employee performance appraisals to discuss each employee’s performance and challenges for growth from various viewpoints, as well as the kinds of new experience needed for further growth.

The JT Group actively creates opportunities fostering collaboration within the Group at the regional, functional and individual levels. The same goes for collaboration between the Group and other companies, community organizations and the like to put together various viewpoints and knowledge outside the Group’s borders, so we can create new types of fulfilling moments.

Promoting internal collaboration

The Group is working to create opportunities to put a range of forces together beyond organizational boundaries for inducing innovation. Using Workplace, a digital communication tool for the Group, we encourage the creation of various communities that transcend regions, businesses, and functions as a way to promote mutual understanding and knowledge sharing. In 2024, we conducted training to enable senior management to implement and promote internal communication themselves, as we continued to cultivate a collaboration mindset.

As remote work becomes more established as a workstyle, we believe physical offices are important for promoting collaboration. For example, both the JT and JTI head offices have been designed to promote exchange and collaboration among employees. Our office designs are conductive not only to pursuing projects that span across locations and functions in a collaborative way, but also to holding events that encourage communication and informal exchanges between employees.

Promoting external collaboration

To create new fulfilling moments, the Group considers it necessary to go beyond the framework of our businesses and organizations to bring together viewpoints and knowledge from outside. When Group employees contribute outside the Company as members of society, we think it benefits the employees themselves, the Group’s business operations and the local community, leading to new value creation. So we actively encourage a broad range of collaboration, on both organizational and individual levels, with people outside the Company, other companies, universities, research institutes and community organizations.

Our corporate R&D organization D-LAB is working on realizing fulfilling moments from diverse viewpoints. For instance, collaborating with Ars Electronica, D-LAB researches the future of fulfilling moments through ART THINKING.

D-LAB has also joined JAXA’s “THINK SPACE LIFE” business co-creation platform* as an incubation partner, through which we have collaborated with other companies to develop products that act like a switch to help awaken the mind and feel the sense of a “fulfilling moment,” even in a unique environment with various restrictions, such as outer space, which represents the ultimate challenge. As a result of this initiative, in September 2024 we launched Chupica, a tablet-type toothpaste and mouthwash, and Yurumaru, warm body wipes made from craft hot springs.

The Group actively offers employees opportunities for volunteering and donating with financial assistance backed by the Company, and considers this is important, not just as a path to corporate social contribution, but also as opportunities for employees themselves to gain new perspectives. As a result, 11,104 Group employees volunteered and worked a combined total of 42,442 hours in the past year.

*

Currently operated by the specified non-profit organization MIRATUKU

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Please see here for information about the status of progress on each priority theme.

JT

Various initiatives to support career development

We believe that our people are the driving force for a company to achieve sustainable growth. Our commitment is to create environments that help employees make the most of their individual strengths and to support their growth. Under the system that supports the career development of each employee, we bring out their ownership and provide various growth opportunities to achieve both employee and corporate growth. This thought has never changed and never will.

In an era of continuous changes in society and the business environment, including the transformation of the employment landscape and diversification of workstyles, it is increasingly important for each employee to improve their awareness of their own career aspirations and take proactive action. We believe that encouraging employees’ career development requires promoting cross-functional collaboration, providing opportunities for employees to take on new challenges that maximize their potential, and fostering a culture where they actively support each other’s growth. In 2024, under the theme of “Growing Together: The bond between people and functions,” we launched career roundtables and internal internship programs in addition to existing initiatives.

At the career roundtables, 58 functions introduced their business activities and workstyles to a total of 850 participating employees. About internal internship programs, which were introduced to allow employees to gain new perspectives and skills by experiencing roles in other functions, 54 employees engaged in cross-functional participation.

These initiatives have encouraged employees to reflect more deeply on their careers while also marking the first step toward building a culture of shared growth and mutual support across the organization.

In 2025, while further developing our initiatives, we are placing a strong focus on empowering each employee under the theme “Shaping your own future” by supporting their self-motivated growth and development. We will introduce new workshops and coaching programs to provide opportunities for employees to clarify their personal values, set meaningful goals, and take proactive steps toward their future.

We remain committed to supporting each employee’s growth and promoting them building a career that is true to them.

Internal internship program (Global Functions Finance)
Global Functions Finance, with offices around the world, designed a special program in which participants could experience FP&A work and global workstyle. Colleagues from our global offices also participated remotely, encouraging participants to take on new challenges for their career development, in keeping with the “One Team” spirit.

JTI

My Way—JTI Evolved Performance Management Experience

Based on the JT Group Purpose announced in 2023, we in the tobacco business have set our Business Purpose as “Creating fulfilling moments. Creating a better future.” With our Purpose setting our direction, Our Way guides us on how we live and behave to deliver on these commitments.

All of our people have a role to play in living Our Way and bringing their Human Best, so we encourage all of our people to embark on a journey of upskilling their Our Way behaviors and support them with practicing Our Way in their day‑to‑day interactions. JTI People & Culture offers a variety of resources and educational tools to help them living Our Way. As an example, “My Way — JTI Evolved Performance Management Experience” was introduced in 2024.

My Way consists of five distinctive modules — My Goals, My Growth, My Talks, My Feedback, and My Year — and is designed to empower our people to own their growth and bring their Human Best by encouraging open and meaningful discussions between employees and line managers at every step. The ultimate objective is to drive high performance while living Our Way.

My Year and My Goals in particular have been embraced by employees, with approximately 97% using this new performance management approach. JTI also recognizes that feedback and conversations with line managers and colleagues are imperative for employees’ growth. In order to support employees’ growth, JTI continues to create opportunities for collaboration, and also develops strategies that focus on employees’ growth.

TableMark group

Zero Work Accident Project

In the processed food business, one of our priority themes of our sustainability strategy is zero work accidents (continuous status without work accidents occurring). TableMark, the core company of our frozen and ambient foods business, is aiming for a group-wide recordable injury rate of 0.61 or below (per 200,000 working hours) by 2030.

To achieve the target of zero work accidents at all TableMark group companies, we believe it is essential that the persons in charge of each organization look not only at their own companies and divisions, but remain committed to achieving the group-wide target, promoting activities while drawing on diverse insights and opinions. We have therefore brought together members from various divisions as a group-wide project. This project focuses particularly on work accidents involving machinery operation in factories and work accidents related to vehicles operations, as they tend to result in serious damage, discussing and formulating measures to prevent them and providing feedback to workplaces.

Up until now, when work accidents have occurred in factories, the basic procedure has been for the factory where the work accident occurred to report in writing to the administrative division on the details of the accident and recurrence prevention measures. To improve the quality of measures, we have established a forum for directly discussing their validity and effectiveness. In addition, we have also strived to strengthen connections between manufacturing sites by sharing the results of risk assessments and establishing unified rules.

With regard to preventing vehicle accidents, we collected case studies from sales offices throughout Japan and distributed videos aimed at raising safety awareness among employees.

In 2024, work accidents at offices were observed (work accidents that occurred at offices other than factories, and not while driving a vehicle). Since these work accidents had not occurred often up until now, there was no system in place for sharing examples. We therefore collected near-miss examples and conducted meetings to illuminate workplace hazards to draw employees’ attention to workplace safety and make them aware of potential danger in their work.

As a result of these initiatives, the recordable injury rate in 2024 was reduced to 0.74 (down 0.08 year on year; 31 incidents, down 4 year on year), representing steady progress against our target for 2030. Looking ahead, we will continue to promote a range of initiatives aimed at achieving zero work accidents.