Human asset strategy(message from the General Manager of the Human Resource Department)

A human asset strategy based on the Medium-Term Business Plan

In June 2024, the Group announced its new Medium-Term Business Plan, which is supposed to be implemented by the end of March 2027. To achieve this plan, the Human Resources Department is likewise implementing various measures based on the human asset strategy. The new Medium-Term Business Plan lays out a path to provide a stable supply of generic drugs through the generic drug business, our core business, by increasing sales volume to 19.0 billion tablets and production capacity to 22.0 billion tablets so that we can capture a market share of 20.5% in the Japanese market.

Human asset strategy to enhance corporate value

Of course, delivering high quality, high value-added generic drugs as we do now is a precondition for expanding our scale. Therefore, it is important that we reinforce the systems and expand functions related to quality controls, quality assurance, and R&D. In light of this, the most important elements to achieve our new Medium-Term Business Plan are (1) securing talent and (2) retaining talent, both of which support business growth.

First, we must reinforce new graduate and mid-career recruiting to secure talent (1). Sawai Pharmaceutical, the Group’s core subsidiary, plans to conduct large-scale recruiting of more than 400 people in fiscal 2024, twice that for the previous fiscal year. However, the recruiting market is getting tougher every year, with the so-called seller’s market continuing. Name recognition and an image of being a major player in the industry will soon no longer be enough to attract workers, and additional measures will be necessary so that potential workers choose us from among the many companies.

Let’s now consider retaining talent (2). This is a key management issue for many Japanese companies, not just the Sawai Group, and the result of the unprecedented seller’s market that has spread to the mid-career market. Just like other companies, the Group recorded a larger employee turnover than in the previous year.

Of course, it is a great loss when we lose employees who have spent years gaining experience and growing at the Company. In particular, for a drug manufacturer like the Group, the accumulation of expertise, skills, and knowledge backed by experience is important, and measures to reduce turnover are an issue we must address.

Transforming into a dynamic company in which employees work with enthusiasm and fulfilment

We must create an even more attractive company in order to steadily advance in addressing the Group's talent-related issues of securing and retaining talent.

“Attractive company” is a simple term, but it entails numerous elements. For example, two such elements are identification with the company, including its management policy and corporate culture, and agreement with working conditions, such as satisfaction, wages, and benefits. The Group aims to be attractive in terms of all elements, and I think that we need to implement flexible measures that reflect each individual’s situation, which is particularly true regarding agreement with working conditions.

For example, young employees focus on treatment, including wages, and future career development, while employees with a family stress balancing work and family life, and older employees want a rich senior life and support for their health. Priority should be given to measures that can win agreement. Of course, attractive remuneration that reflects responsibilities and results is important regardless of the particular situation of the individual.

Regarding this point, the Group’s human resources philosophy of “fostering and leveraging the individual” refers to the idea of valuing each employees’ personal individuality and characteristics in an unchanging pillar of our human resources policies. We consider as an attractive company one that values an employee’s individuality and personality and provides support for each employee’s individual situation, such as age or interests. To illustrate this, in the new Medium-Term Business Plan we use the phrase “a dynamic company in which employees work with enthusiasm."

By introducing the human resources measures described below, we will attract and retain talent by creating a dynamic company in which employees work with enthusiasm.

Promoting ID&E,^* particularly the active participation of women

Promoting diversity, particularly encouraging women to play an active role, is one of the important measures for expanding the Group’s business.

Japan’s labor force is on a one-way decline, and it is said that women working and making active contributions will be a major factor in mitigating the impact of Japan’s shrinking labor force.

To secure talent at a time of fierce competition for recruitment, it is important to attract outstanding talent while recognizing various differences, such as gender, race, nationality, and age.

Women now account for around 40% of Group employees, which is relatively high for a drug manufacturer, and around 40% of new hires have been women in recent years. It is expected that the proportion of women will increase in the future.

While promoting the active participation of female employees by introducing a childcare leave system, short-time work systems, and other systems that go beyond legal requirements, the Company is working to further strengthen these measures.

• *An abbreviation for inclusion, diversity, and equity. We stipulate policies that focus on understanding and accepting differences in each person’s background (race, nationality, age, etc.) (inclusion), leveraging talent regardless of background (diversity), and treating all employees (equity) impartially.