Held events to commemorate the company's 20th anniversary

Sony Kibou/Hikari Corporation celebrated its 20th anniversary in April 2022. In conjunction with the Sony Group's Diversity Week, three events were held to communicate the challenges and growth of the company from its founding to the present both inside and outside the Sony Group. Through the events, we hoped to obtain hints for creating an inclusive workplace, provide an opportunity to promote understanding of the Sony Group's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) and disability, and expressed our gratitude to our business partners on a daily basis.

Special Symposium "One Step forward to the future in which everyone is one's own self and shine”

The 20th Anniversary Special Symposium was held on September 28th. At the beginning, after the greeting from our President Representative Director, Kaoru Ohba, we introduced the heartfelt video message from Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO of Sony Group Corporation. We also introduced a slideshow of messages with congratulatory photos from people inside and outside the Sony Group.

In the first half of the symposium, Ms. Keiko Kojima, an essayist and popular personality, was invited as an external lecturer and gave a lecture on the theme of "working with various people." Based on her own experience, she said that rather than accepting that "disability is an individuality", it is a problem for the person himself, and that the way society as a whole and those who are said to be the majority must change their perceptions.

In the second half, Ms. Keiko Kojima and three Sony Kibou/Hikari employees held a round-table discussion on creating an inclusive workplace. Ms. Keiko Kojima talked about "No one is the same, everyone has a minority side", "Opening yourself", and "Creating a workplace that does not isolate you". Participating Sony Kibou/Hikari employees spoke frankly about what they felt from their own experiences and their thoughts on the theme. "It became easier for me to ask people for help here after I had a clear diagnosis of my disability.” "It is important to create a work environment where no one is isolated.” "It is important to listen to what the person has to say, rather than making judgments based on just the name of the person's disability.”

After the survey, we received many comments such as the following: "I once again felt that a society in which it is easy for people with disabilities to live and work is easy for everyone to live and work. It would be great if this kind of understanding could be further promoted not only at special subsidiary companies, but at Sony as a whole, and a workplace atmosphere of mutual respect would spread.”

< Scene from the round-table discussion: Second from left is Ms. Kojima >

Open House: introduction to deepen understanding for the value of diversity

The Sony Kibou/Hikari Open House was held online on September 15th. At this year's Diversity Week, we wanted everyone from each Sony Group company to learn about Sony Kibou/Hikari's initiatives, and to think together about the practice of DE&I and the creation of new value through diversity.

The video introduced Sony Kibou Hikari's operations in the areas of office work, cleaning, and IT/imaging, interviews with active employees, and comments from business partners. In addition to deepening their understanding of Sony Kibou/Hikari, we provided an opportunity to think about the Sony Group's goal of creating value through diversity.

We received a lot of comments like the following from the questionnaire after the event. "It was great to see them working so energetically.” "I was able to learn that the content of the work was more diverse than I had imagined.” "I had misunderstood the contents of the activity as completely different, so, I was able to understand it well with an easy-to-understand explanation."

< Open House: Working Sony Kibou/Hikari employees >

Workshop: Let's experience the "image annotation” work together with Sony Kibou/Hikari employees!!

The workshop was held at the Sony headquarters to experience "image annotation"(*1) under the theme of "Sony Kibou/Hikari's Challenge and Growth - Pride and Confidence in Working with Sony Products -" on September 27th,
The work was done in pairs by a Sony Kibou/Hikari employee and a Sony's group company employee who participated. It was a valuable opportunity to interact with the 16 participants through "conversation" and "collaboration".

(*1)"image annotation": Creating image data in the process of preparing various forms of learning data, such as images, voice, and text, for AI (artificial intelligence) to be installed in Sony products and services.

〇Voices of group employees who participated
・Sony Kibou/Hikari employee guide was great.
・When I actually started working, I found it difficult to concentrate.
・It was fun to touch the image annotation of the camera AI installed in Sony products.
・I want to tell my friends as soon as possible that there is such a wonderful future.

〇Comments from Sony Kibou/Hikari employees who participated
・It was great to have the opportunity to make the customers happy and learn about Sony Kibou/Hikari.
・I was able to feel a sense of accomplishment by working hard with the members.
・Next, I want to be someone who can encourage others.

< Collaborative work: a Sony Kibou/Hikari employee in the center >

Towards the future

Through these events, everyone inside and outside the Sony Group will deepen their understanding of Sony Kibou/Hikari. In addition, while practicing DE&I, we will contribute not only within the Sony Group but also to society.