Human Capital and Human Rights

Basic policy concerning support for workplace diversity and inclusion

Lasertec Group is a global operation and hires various talent in different countries and regions. We believe that human capital is the most important company resource and the driver of our growth. Based on this belief, we strive to provide a workplace that is both challenging and comfortable for diverse talent, and one that enables everyone to fully utilize their knowledge and skills.

The kind of talent we should seek for the sustainable growth of our Group are characterized as follows:
・One who has the audacity to take on the world’s first challenges;
・One who acts proactively to achieve one’s goals; and
・One who can accommodate diverse values and work with others.

Human rights policy

The human rights policy we adhere to is provided below.

Our policy for ensuring the diversity of core human resources

We believe that it is essential to have talent with different experiences and skills for flexibly responding to wide-ranging challenges and social changes. We also recognize that it is imperative to ensure the diversity of human resources for making our mission statements - "Be the front runner of the optical technology field and help customers overcome new challenges," and "Let's launch a product totally new to the world every year" - come true.

We actively hire and promote diverse talent and prepare various career paths to allow them to pursue their own specialty fields, thereby providing opportunities for them to reach their full potential.

  • Hiring and promoting female employees
    We actively hire and promote female employees for both engineering and non-engineering positions.
  • Hiring and promoting global talent
    At overseas subsidiaries, we actively engage in the promotion of locally hired employees to senior positions. We also exercise personnel transfers and exchanges between the headquarters and subsidiaries.
  • Actively employing senior talent
    At the headquarters, we have introduced a re-employment system for employees reaching the retirement age of 60 and a continued employment system for those over 65 to encourage the employment of senior talent with abundant experience and knowledge to pass on their valuable skills to the next generation.
  • Maintaining balance in hiring new recruits and mid-career workers
    We hire both new recruits fresh out of school and mid-career workers in a balanced manner to employ talent from various backgrounds. We do not make any discrimination between them when determining the position, pay, or promotion of employees.

We will ensure the diversity of core human resources through these actions and aim to keep the combined percentage of 1) mid-career workers, 2) female employees, 3) global talent, and 4) senior employees more than 50% of all employees.

In addition, we are aiming to have female employees account for 20% or higher of our new hires (as of April 2022).

Group
FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023
Employees (Group total) 375 448 536 671 859
∟ Female employees 39 48 58 74 99
∟ Ratio 10.4% 10.7% 10.8% 11.0% 11.5%
∟ Female managers 11 11 10 12 15
∟ Ratio 9.2% 9.2% 9.0% 10.3% 10.5%
Employees (Overseas) 121 160 208 297 434
∟ Locally hired employees 120 156 198 288 426
∟ Ratio 99.2% 97.5% 95.2% 97.0% 98.2%
Japan headquarters
FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023
Employees (Japan) 254 288 328 374 425
∟ Female employees 21 25 34 38 44
∟ Ratio 8.3% 8.7% 10.4% 10.2% 10.4%
∟ Female managers 2 2 2 2 3
∟ Ratio 2.4% 2.4% 2.4% 2.3% 3.3%
∟ Foreign nationals 4 4 7 10 12
∟ Employees with disability 1 1 2 2 5
∟ Employees re-hired after retirement 13 18 24 23 24
∟ Newly hired employees 31 47 49 61 68
∟ Percentage of mid-career employees among newly hired employees 67.7% 78.7% 71.4% 83.6% 79.4%
∟ Turnover rate 2.2% 3.9% 2.8% 2.7% 4.8%
Gender pay gap 82.5% 78.0% 74.6%
∟ Permanent employees 83.1% 80.1% 76.2%
∟ Non-permanent employees*1 34.0% 32.5% 36.8%
  1. *1Fixed-term contract employees, part-time employees, and employees re-hired after retirement. Some are in a managerial position.
  2. The gender pay gap is mainly due to the difference in age distribution between male and female employees and the female manager ratio. It is not due to any institutional factors.

Activities for establishing talent pipelines

We believe it is important, as part of our human resource development effort, to establish talent pipelines through which we can proactively connect with skilled talent, and fill our hiring needs effectively.

We are engaged in various activities, including those listed below, to gain access to a network of talent who are likely to share values with us:

Action Overview Specific Activity
Give continued support to student activities in the area of mechanical and electrical engineering at academic institutions Networking with talent by providing financial and technical assistance to student activities that we think foster a talent base necessary for Japanese manufacturing
  • Being a sponsor of "Shoku Circle (Job Circle)", a service run by Puff Co., Ltd., which helps connect students and companies
  • Providing assistance to university Robocon (Robot Contest) groups
Have a corporate booth at trade shows
Support industry groups and academic societies
Networking with talent by conducting technology information exchange with professors and students engaged in leading-edge studies Participated in and/or sponsored a total of 8 academic societies/conferences, including the Japan Society of Applied Physics, in 2023
Participate in events for recruiting students Networking with students by actively participating in events attracting students who want to contribute to society through manufacturing Participating in about 30 events per year

Our views on nurturing talent

We believe it is critically important for us to hire and nurture strong R&D talent in order to maintain and enhance our product development capability. Hiring and nurturing R&D talent is our top-priority HR strategy for strengthening our corporate infrastructure, one of the key objectives in Phase 3+ of our Mid-term Business Plan.

We use the following venues to provide various practical training in order to retain and nurture talent versed in multiple engineering fields who can exercise "rapid product development”.

Venue Purpose
Product Development Conference This is a venue for engineers to give presentations on the progress and/or result of product development projects, new technologies, and other topics that they think should be shared among the members of technology departments.
Design Review This is a venue for engineers to discuss the development of new functions and technologies. We encourage specialists from various departments to participate so they can exchange ideas with other specialists and learn to have multiple perspectives, thereby enhancing our product development capability.
Human Capital KPIs
KPI FY2023 FY2027
(Results) (Target)
Nurturing talent Product Development Conference Number of meetings 25 25
Design Review Number of meetings 504 500
Ensuring diversity Female ratio in new hires (%) 11.8 20.0 *1
Female manager ratio (%) 3.3 5.0
  1. *1This is the target set in our "General Employer Action Plan Based on The Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace" for the period from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2027.

Education and training

Technology makes progress day by day. For us to keep developing cutting-edge products, it is imperative that we keep improving the knowledge and skills of our employees. While we provide education and training internally, we also have our employees actively participate in various types of training provided by external specialists and industry groups to enhance their abilities. We believe it is important for these education and training programs to provide necessary technical knowledge and business skills in a timely manner while giving due respect to the diversity and uniqueness of individual employees and also based on the company's expectations for them. We collect feedback from employees, keep their subjects and content up to date, and conduct them in a flexible manner. For example, we conduct technical skills training regularly for all types of technical workers, regardless of whether they are full-time regular employees or temporary workers, to ensure that the quality of our products is maintained and improved. For occupational safety and health, our employees attend the safety training provided by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) to learn the safety standards of the industry. Because there are a growing number of products to be installed and maintained at overseas customer sites, we are increasing the number of field service engineers at our overseas subsidiaries. We are actively trying to enhance the skills of these overseas engineers by training them at the headquarters as well as at each subsidiary to share the skills and knowhow of HQ engineers with them.

We hold workshops and others regularly as part of our human resource development efforts to promote communication among employees to enable diverse talent, including those who join Lasertec in mid-career, to reach their full potential in each of our organizations.

Notably, design reviews, where the development of new functions and technologies is discussed, are also serving as a venue where engineers learn new skills. We encourage specialists from various departments to participate in design reviews so that they can brush up their skills and ideas through discussions with other specialists and learn to have multiple perspectives. In this manner, design reviews are serving as a hands-on training venue that helps enhance our product development capability.

We encourage newly appointed managers to participate in training programs provided by external specialists for learning management skills. We also provide the "Next-Generation Leader Training" program for next-generation leader candidates and proactively nurture next-generation management.

Structure of Education and Training Programs
Education and Training Programs
Category Training Summary Undergone By Frequency/ Participant Numbers
Company-wide Harassment Training to prevent harassment Regular employees Four times a year
Human Rights Training to prevent discrimination and other human rights issues Newly hired regular employees Once a year
Mental Health Training to prevent troubles related to mental health All employees
(both regular employees and temporary workers)
Six times a year
Foreign Languages Elective online English courses for employees Regular employees Approx. 100 employees in a year
Basic Onboarding Explanation of company rules, relevant laws and regulations, and training in safety and company facilities Newly hired regular employees 12 times a year
Business Skills Training in business skills, including communication, logical thinking, giving presentations, and accounting Regular employees No fixed schedule
Technical Product Development Conference A venue for engineers to give presentations on the progress and/or results of product development projects, new technologies, and other topics that they think should be shared among the members of technology departments. Two or three topics are discussed at each conference. A Lasertec original initiative that prompts discussion between upper management and engineers. Engineers (regular employees only) 12 times per year
Approx. 100 to 200 participants at each conference
Design Review A venue for engineers to discuss the development of new functions and technologies. We encourage specialists from various departments to participate so they can exchange ideas with other specialists and learn to have multiple perspectives, thereby enhancing our product development capability.
A Lasertec original initiative that prompts discussion between upper management and engineers.
Engineers and members of relevant departments (regular employees only) No fixed schedule
About 500 times per year.
Approx. 5 to 15 participants per review
Technical Skill & Safety Training in fundamental concepts such as EMC, electric circuits, and software design, and in employee safety, including the handling of electricity, machinery, and chemical substances. Engineers (both regular employees and temporary workers) 50 to 100 employees in a year
Management Team Building A course that aims to encourage communication between team members and improve teamwork Regular employees Five times a year
Next-Generation Leader Training Training to educate and assess next-generation upper management candidates Selected regular employees No fixed schedule
Management Training in management skills, including labor management, coaching, and giving feedback Regular employees holding management positions No fixed schedule
Top Management Training for executives to gain a higher perspective and acquire the knowledge needed for strategic planning and implementation New training to be added
Executive Coaching Training for executives that looks at their individual weaknesses and concerns and assists them in overcoming issues and changing their behavior so they execute their duties at a higher level New training to be added

Views on HR evaluation and actions

We believe it is highly important to evaluate the skills and performance of each employee properly to provide a work environment that enables talent to reach their full potential.

We have an annual cycle of performance evaluations in place, setting appropriate goals for each employee at the beginning of each fiscal year, evaluating their performance at the year end, and giving feedback.

Incentives

As part of our effort to increase the motivation of employees to drive the company’s growth, we provide the following incentives for them:

  • Bonus linked to the company’s financial performance
    The bonus is paid as a percentage of the company’s operating profit. It is intended to align employees’ interests with the performance of the company to have their strong commitment to good performance and achievement of medium-term business plan.
  • Employee stock ownership program
    The company adds a percentage to each employee’s contribution to purchase Lasertec stock as an incentive to promote stock ownership by employees and assist their asset building.
    This program is offered to full-time regular employees. As of November 30, 2022, 360 employees were eligible for the program and 207 were participants in it.
  • Reward for in-house inventors
    The company pays a reward to in-house inventors when an application for their patent or industrial design is registered. Additionally, when the registered patent or industrial design contributes to the sales and profits of the company, we pay a reward to them based on the proportion of its contribution.

Health and safety

The health and safety of our employees is one of the top priority issues for us. We support our employees to detect early signs of illnesses and maintain good health. In addition to the general physical checkup provided annually for our employees at the headquarters, we pay for a re-examination for those who have found a medical risk at the checkup. We also pay for a more thorough medical checkup for employees at certain ages. For mental health, we conduct a stress check regularly to monitor the stress level of our employees to detect a sign of excessive stress. We offer the counselling of an occupational physician to those who have a request for it. At overseas subsidiaries, we provide employees with medical insurance and/or medical expense assistance and pay for their physical checkups, depending on the need of each subsidiary and their local practices. We are engaged in the efforts to prevent occupational accidents. Lasertec headquarters is certified ISO45001.

Work-life balance

We believe that maintaining a good work-life balance is crucial for the achievement of best performance and job satisfaction by employees. In addition to the flextime system provided over the years, we have newly introduced a telecommute system since the spread of new coronavirus infections. We strictly comply with the laws and regulations concerning the use of paid vacations by employees and promote their usage to increase the utility rate. We keep the increase of overtime hours in check. We also make a necessary accommodation for employees who return to work after taking a leave of absence for childbirth, childcare, or nursing care.

Furthermore, from April 2022, we have set our target for the average rate of paid leave usage per employee at 60% or higher.
We believe that offering a wide range of welfare programs to employees is crucial for helping them work well and spend their time off well, and therefore for increasing job satisfaction.

The following are examples of welfare programs offered to HQ employees:

  • Paid vacations, new year holidays, special vacations (including marriage, bereavement, and sabbatical)
  • Childcare leaves, nursing care leaves, childcare service assistance
  • Social security and insurance programs
  • Annual physical checkups and re-examinations paid by the company
  • Stress checks
  • Employee stock ownership program
  • Severance pay
  • Cafeteria plan (third-party welfare program offering various discounts, in addition to cash payment for welfare use)
  • Rent assistance
  • Club activity assistance
Japan headquarters
FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023
Employees (Japan) 254 288 328 374 425
∟ Childcare leaves 0 1 1 2 2
∟ Nursing care leaves 0 0 0 1 0
∟ Paid vacation utility rate 58.8% 59.1% 56.3% 60.9% 65.2%

Employee satisfaction survey

We have been conducting an employee satisfaction survey regularly since 2015 as a tool to learn the satisfaction level and to take necessary measures to increase satisfaction.

In this survey, we ask questions on 8 different themes, including management, HR system, and working environment to identify where high-priority issues exist.

In the most recent survey conducted in fiscal year 2020, many positive feedbacks were received in the following areas: the company’s visions and policies are clearly announced; many employees work passionately to achieve growth and innovation; employees are allowed to have a high degree of freedom; new ideas are welcome in the workplace; employees can propose solutions and improvements in the workplace; among others.

We will continue to conduct this survey in the future because we believe higher employee satisfaction will lead to the company’s better performance and sustainable growth.

Outline of general corporate action plan compiled in accordance with the Act for Measures to Support the Development of the Next-Generation Children

Lasertec sets the goals of its action plan as follows:

Goal 1
Fostering a strong bond with employees and their families
(Examples of action: Maternity and childcare vacations, Lasertec Family Day event)
Goal 2
Social contribution for nurturing next-generation youths
(Examples of action: Support for students who are interested in pursuing manufacturing career)
Goal 3
Adopting diverse forms of work
(Examples of action: Telecommuting)