Social

Relationship with the Stakeholders

We will contribute to the development of a sustainable society and raise the overall corporate value by confirming the priority through communication with the company’s stakeholders and reflecting it in business operations.

Community

Support regions and organizations

• Industry promotion and local revitalization partnering with local governments, local companies, schools, etc.

  GMO Internet Group is partnering with local governments and regions where offices are located for industry promotion and local revitalization. Each office in each region partners with local governments and schools in the region to hold tech events and train IT personnel that will play important roles in the next generation.

• BIT VALLEY

  Four Shibuya-based IT companies (CyberAgent, DeNA, mixi, and GMO Internet Group) are continuously working on the tech project BIT VALLEY since 2018. GMO Internet Group is working on next-generation human resources development, IT personnel exchanges, and startup support in the Shibuya area by holding tech events.

• Next-generation technology development, cooperating with industry, government, and schools

  GMO Internet Group partners with civil services and research institutes such as universities to provide next-generation technology development support.
  GMO Internet Group has recently focused especially on the next-generation air mobility and security sectors, and it is working on research and development with research institutes, etc. in Japan and overseas and is exchanging and training partners.

• DX support for the local governments and regions

  GMO Internet Group offers DX support for the local governments and regions through the Internet Infrastructure business such as the Group’s fixed-line service, mobile line service, e-contract service, and payment platform.

• Environmental beautification activities partnering with local governments and regions

  GMO Internet Group is partnering with local governments and shopping districts in the regions where offices are located to carry out environmental beautification activities such as cleaning on a regular basis.

• Donations to NPO
  • TABLE FOR TWO (TFT/CFT program)
    In January 2021, GMO Internet Group has launched a lunch menu for TABLE FOR TWO, actively striving to resolve global issues through foods. In the TABLE FOR TWO program, every time a meal that controls the calories to prevent obesity and lifestyle diseases is bought, a donation of JPY 20 per meal is used to pay for school meals for developing countries' children. (14,769 meals or JPY 295,380 in total as of June 2022)
    In May 2021, GMO Internet Group has also launched the CUP FOR TWO Program. In this program, every time a "fair trade" product such as coffee and tea offered at the internal cafe is chosen, a donation of JPY 20 per cup is used to pay for school meals for developing countries' children. An average of 1,400 cups per month in the first year, with the total number of cups exceeding 19,000. (19,737 cups or JPY 394,740 in total as of June 2022)
  • Foodbank Shibuya
    We continue to donate foods and disaster relief goods collected from our partners through Foodbank Shibuya (NPO), actively striving to resolve the two issues - food waste and poverty.
  • ChildFund Japan
    Every time a drink is bought from a donation-type vending machine that is installed within the GMO Internet Group, a donation of JPY 5 per drink is used to pay support grants to the Philippines' and Nepal's children through ChildFund Japan.

Education and child care support

• Nurturing the next generation of leaders

  GMO Internet Group puts effort into training IT personnel, who will play important roles in the next generation, in various ways.
  GMO Digikids holds online programming events. The Kids VALLEY Project supports the programming classes of elementary schools in Shibuya through partnerships with Shibuya-based companies. Youth VALLEY is for high school students. Using the resources GMO Internet Group has, the Group puts effort into training IT personnel, who will play important roles in the next generation. Coeteco byGMO provides information on programming education to parents and holds family programming events, which encourage families to become interested in programming and IT. The Group allows students to visit its workplaces and accepts work experience at any time. Students may become more interested in work experience and IT by directly interacting with partners at the Group's workplaces.
  GMO Internet Group also actively strives to support raising personnel through sponsorship, etc. in events and measures, such as work experience by running a booth at the Kitakyushu Yume Mirai Work and sponsorship in CODEGYM Academy.

  Initiatives
• Partner education

  GMO Technology Boot Camp, a technology training for the new graduate partners, is held across the Group each year for skills improvement of the new graduate partners. In 2022, GMO Internet Group plans to launch a white hat hacker training to reskill existing partners to make all partners (including those who are not engineers and technicians) security personnel.

  Initiatives (Japanese version only)
• Child care support

  GMO Internet Group established GMO Bears, an internal nursery, at Cerulean Tower, where GMO Internet Group’s headquarter is located. GMO Internet Group has a good working environment for partners, supporting childcare while working.

  Introducing GMO Bears

Human Rights

Human rights policy

• Commitment

  All of the executives and partners of GMO Internet Group (hereinafter, “We”) contribute to the development of a sustainable society by respecting human rights in every aspect of our corporate activities.

• Respect for international norms on human rights

  We provide support for the International Norms on Human Rights (such as “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” “UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,” “Children's Rights and Business Principles,” and “The Core 8 Treaty Basic Principles of the ILO Declaration”), engage in business activities, and contribute to the development of human rights.

• Elimination of prejudice and equal opportunity

  Under the Venture Spirit Declaration, which embodies the spirit in which the company was founded, we state that “We do not tolerate prejudice on the grounds of race, nationality, gender, educational background, language, religion, or any other factors. We value people for their ability and merits.” We provide equal opportunity for everyone. In addition to this, we do not tolerate all discrimination or harassment including gender identity and sexual orientation, age, disability, or illness.

• Prohibition of forced labor and child labor

  We prohibit any and all forced labor and child labor and engage in business activities that observe compliance.

• Management of working hours and wages

  We will comply with labor standards and all laws and regulations related to working hours, which are applied in countries and areas where we engage in business activities, and we will strive to reduce overtime hours. We will comply with labor standards and all laws and regulations related to wages, and strive to ensure the appropriate wage level for the basic needs of partners.

• Maintenance of partners' safety and health

  We exercise due care to maintain our partners' physical and mental health. We comply with the laws, regulations, and rules related to safety and health, which are applied in countries and areas where we engage in business activities, and work to maintain this by adopting appropriate measures to address health risks.

• Privacy protection and freedom of expression

  We respect and protect stakeholders' privacy, freedom of expression, and right to have opinions while ensuring that this will not be interfered with by any person and to access all ideas and information.

• Establishing the reporting point of contact

  We construct mechanisms for effective countermeasures to prevent the violation of human rights by establishing the appropriate reporting point of contact. We will sincerely support those whose human rights have been violated, providing relief.

• Communication

  The Sustainability Promotion Committee is responsible for the promotion of human rights initiatives. The Committee promotes the Basic Human Rights Policy (HR policy) to all officers, partners, and external stakeholders and actively conducts human rights awareness activities.

Helpline

• GMO Helpline/Nadeshiko Helpline

  In order to discover, ameliorate, or prevent all compliance risks, including overall bribery and corruption prevention in business activities, and human rights infringements at an early stage, we have a system that enables partners to consult with the company or solve problems, without undue worry, if they become aware of fraudulent acts or illegal acts in work, or if they see or hear acts that may be illegal though it’s uncertain whether the acts are clearly illegal. We also have female consultants in case the female partners are unlikely to consult with male consultants (available for use by male partners as well). Whistleblowing can also be anonymous.
  Personal information, comments, or details of the consultation of individuals who consult with us will be managed under strict guard and we will never leak them to third parties without their acceptance. Retaliation against partners who have reported violations of laws and regulations to the company is prohibited if the reason behind it is whistleblowing.

Labor Practices

Labor practice initiatives

Views on the labor practices

GMO Internet Group has grown thanks to the support from our partners. Therefore, with a full line-up of support systems, GMO Internet Group is putting effort into creating the process to gather advanced partners from all over the world, and focusing on realizing an office environment where everyone can feel comfortable and show his/her ability.

Labor-management relations

We respect freedom of association and workers' right to collective bargaining as partners' rights. Partners can put themselves forward for a partner representative, who is elected by a vote of confidence. In order to maintain constructive labor-management relations and establish a fulfilling work environment for all partners, partner representative elected for each office in Japan takes a leading role in the revision of the company rules, such as execution of labor-management agreements and rules of employment, practice by the industrial health committee/labor-management committee, prevention of industrial accidents, etc.

Disclosure of cases of infringements on workers’ rights

There were no relevant cases in FY2021.

Specific initiatives

• Positive work environment
  • We have GMO Helpline, an internal system that enables partners to report or solve problems or consult with the company, without undue worry. In order to make it easier for female partners to report harassment, we also have female consultants on Nadeshiko Helpline.
  • We set up the emergency escalation helpline necessary for coping more quickly with key cases, etc. (things related to the lives of partners, violation of laws and regulations, customer's credit insecurity, disputes). Posts made here will be shared directly with executives.
  • GMO Internet Group has an environment where all partners are free to offer a suggestion that improves the company through an internal suggestion system "Kuma no mimi". Executives decide whether the suggestions will be executed.
• Check the condition of the organization
  • We conduct a monthly Engagement Survey. By conducting a survey quantitatively on a continuous basis, GMO Internet Group can visualize the condition of the organization, which changes every day. This information is useful for organizational management. Rather than focusing on individuals, the purpose of the survey is to contribute to enhanced productivity and the drop in job turnover rate by adopting measures to enhance the engagement of the organization.
  • We adopt a 360-degree supervisor evaluation system, including directors. Issues faced by oneself and the organization become apparent by receiving evaluation from various perspectives from subordinates and the members of other departments, leading to improvement.
• Initiatives to improve the efficiency of the business
  • GMO Internet Group has launched a project to improve the efficiency of the business by 10% or more. We develop a sound business environment as a result of improving the efficiency of the business by examining all facets of it, such as using an RPA, AI, robot, video, etc. to reduce and improve the efficiency of the routine work as well as introducing the new tools.

Initiatives on the human resources development

Self-development training program structure

• Human resource systems that utilize the strength of oneself

  GMO Internet Group unveiled new human resource systems in 2020. Four policies of our human resource systems are as follows: (1) the evaluation period is short and deadlines are clear; (2) the system is fair; (3) we construct mechanisms for partners who are motivated to do what they want to do; and (4) the compensation is visualized and fully open. Based on the above policies, GMO Internet Group introduced mechanisms for human resources to be able to carry out their activities, such as changing to the human resource systems that allow the partners to make full use of their strength and grow further. The Group focuses on (3) in terms of self-development and has prepared an environment for partners who believe in their potential and are motivated to challenge themselves, such as a breakthrough option that allows only the new graduate partners to be transferred to their desired departments by having over certain years of service and group recruitment systems that utilize the strength of group management.

• Offering the areas for learning
  • GMO Academia, a workshop the partners can join freely, is held two or three times a month. The Group's partners are lecturers and promote sharing of the knowledge of GMO Internet Group, by introducing an actual model to be learned from and the know-how.
  • We are promoting the "GMO Cool Engineer Support System" in order to become the number one technology company in the industry. Unique systems, which are realized by making full use of the company's services and technological capability in response to requests from the partners, are born every day: assisting with the cost of buying technology-related books and the latest gadgets, and joining development camps; assisting with participation in the workshops and seminars; allowing the partners to use our services (shared server, VPS, etc.) through which the synergies for users are expected to arise, etc.
  • The company is also improving welfare and benefits, such as supplementing the monthly payments to use the external service for self-development.

Support childcare and long-term care while working

• Improving childcare support
  • Our return rate from childcare leave was 100% in FY2021. In addition to normal childcare leave/system of shorter working hours, GMO Bears, an internal nursery, was established. GMO Bears keeps children while the partners are working, and holds consultation meetings for the partners who are parenting children. The company supports childcare while working after partners return from childcare leave. The partners will have the low-priced service in their home as the babysitter service is made as a service of the company and also due to subsidies from the company in addition to subsidies for babysitters from the government. Regarding childcare leave, we are currently enhancing the male partners' understanding of the system, such as through presentation.
  • A flexible way of working is also one of the attractions as the flextime system is approved and paid leave is allowed to be taken on an hourly basis. In addition to suggesting the partners work from home twice a week even at normal times, the company implements measures to meet the needs of individual partners, such as permitting the partners to work from home on all days when there are special circumstances (e.g. long-term care, childcare, etc.).

Health and Safety

Health management

GMO Internet Group Recognized as a “Corporation with Excellent Health Management 2023

GMO Internet Group Inc. was recognized for its health initiatives, and on March 8, 2023, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japan Health Council recognized GMO Internet Group Inc. as a “Corporation with Excellent Health Management 2023” under the Certification System for Excellent Health Management implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japan Health Council.

Under the Venture Spirit Declaration, which embodies the spirit in which we believe, GMO Internet Group has executed measures that are able to promote the good mental and physical health of partners, with the company having declared to increase the smiles of partners.

Support health with food
GMO Yours, a large-scale communication space, is installed in each location in Japan and offers lunch menus supervised by registered dietitians. Cafe has a full menu of drinks, and offers breakfast, light meals for late-night workers, and treats for break time. Partners can have all of these for free, and the company supports the good mental and physical health of partners.

Offering the areas for relaxation
GMO Internet Group improves the efficiency of the business by establishing the relaxation space inside the company, such as GMO Siesta, a nap space where partners can refresh their minds before resuming work in the afternoon, and GMO BaliRelax, a massage room that offers low-priced body care service by professionals and where partners can soak away the fatigue of the work.

Internal exercise support
GMO Internet Group has established the GMO OLYMPIA, a full-scale gym space inside the company, where partners can work up a sweat before and after work. If the partners are taking advantage of a sports gym for the general public, GMO Internet Group supplements half of the fixed-monthly payments, promoting the exercise of partners. GMO Internet Group is a sponsor of futsal and golf competitions, the events proposed by partners.

Industrial safety and health

• Main initiatives
  • Individual partners are able to directly apply for interviews with the industrial physicians through a dedicated system. Partners can apply for interviews and consult the industrial physicians on their concerns without worrying about what their supervisors think.
  • Partners train for disasters each year, assuming the disaster is of the same magnitude as Great East Japan Earthquake, in preparation for emergency situations. Each location has an automated external defibrillator (AED) and the initial response manual that is needed when natural disasters occur.
  • GMO Internet Group established "no-overtime" days (twice a month) in order to prevent the long work hours.

Customer Responsibility

Provision of information on the security of services

A helpline to report spam is provided on the company's website to receive reports of spam that are sent from GMO Internet Group’s mail server, and the company will take measures.

Responsible advertising and promotional activities

• Policy

  We make effort to engage in advertising that complies with the relevant regulations and the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.

• System

  We provide training programs on the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations for both marketing and design officers. Legal Department checks the ads related to the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.
  Moreover, the company has stipulated a “Compliance Declaration,” stating that it appropriately explains products and services to enable customers to understand, and not misunderstand, negative information or the information at risk and that it engages in representations, advertising, and promotional efforts that do not cause misunderstanding. The company has in place a framework for partners to read out loud the Compliance Declaration once every three months.