Human Resource Development: Initiatives

We respect the diverse work views and values of individuals and are expanding our efforts to support career autonomy, to ensure that our diverse and versatile talent pool feels a sense of satisfaction and pride in their work, and continues to develop and play an active role while making use of their abilities to the fullest.

With the goal of increasing the effectiveness of employees' self-development, we conduct annual reviews focusing on employee skill development and career building and provide opportunities for dialogue with supervisors.

Prior to Growth Dialogues, employees who lead certain organizations undergo a 360-degree management review from their superiors, subordinates, and colleagues, while other employees receive team feedback from their subordinates and colleagues. This provides opportunities for development support leading to increased awareness and improvement.

MC has established a mechanism to encourage the development of employees' skills and careers through observation and assessment from multiple perspectives by sharing skill growth and career aspirations of employees confirmed through Growth Dialogues with a wider population.

Based on individual career aspirations along with skills and qualities that employees want to develop in the future, we are promoting open recruitment assignments to support the transfer of employees to positions they wish to take on and Dual Career initiatives that provide opportunities for skill acquisition and growth through in-house dual work.
We have implemented a "Sabbatical Leave" program that enables employees to proactively engage in reskilling by enrolling in universities or graduate schools, either domestically or abroad.
In addition, we offer a Career Development Support Program designed to help individuals visualize their capabilities, reflect on their experiences, and clarify their career vision. This program supports the establishment of a personalized development cycle aimed at realizing their professional goals.

Please refer to the ESG Data at link below for the above results.

Employees turning 50 or 55 are required to take career design training courses as an opportunity to think independently about their future, including post-retirement. Furthermore, for those in their late 40s who wish to participate, in addition to career design training, we provide briefings on company benefits as well as financial planning seminars.

We have adopted the key policy of “support employees’ self-development and company development” with the aim to ensure reciprocal growth between the company and its employees.

Implementing training programs designed to equip employees with basic business, problem-solving skills and leadership skills. They also work on becoming globally competitive professionals, something that is essential for all sogo shosha (trading company) employees.

This training program focuses on fostering employee self-awareness about working at MC, as well as instilling knowledge, skills, and other qualities required to be an MC employee. We also implement programs that contribute to strengthening foresight and execution skills for becoming a professional.

This comprehensive, two-stage training program is designed to strengthen the basic skills of young employees who are in their first three years with MC, comprehensively covering basic skills for professionals handling practical tasks, such as finance and accounting, bookkeeping, M&A operations, English-language proficiency, global leadership, AI, and other areas.

The purpose of this program is to rapidly develop young employees. To achieve this goal, MC utilizes its overseas assignment system so that all employees will, in principle, be provided with overseas experience at some point during their first eight years of employment. By exploring viewpoints and multifaceted perspectives they would not typically encounter in Japan, trainees can improve their conceptual capabilities and learn how to collaborate with individuals from diverse backgrounds and gain experience seeing projects through to completion.

This program aims to further develop employees as businesspeople by having them experience on-the-job training (OJT) in an environment outside of Japan, such as at overseas MC offices or operating companies. In order for them to become immersed in the local environment and learn as much as possible about the country where they are assigned, trainees study the country’s official language both before and during their assignment.

As business becomes more and more globalized, to develop projects that are deeply rooted in each country or region, it is very important to not only have business skills, but to also have a deep understanding of the respective countries or regions. Starting with acquiring language ability, in order to deepen knowledge about concerned countries and regions, 1.5-2-year language training and OJT is held in various countries, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Turkey, Spain, and Brazil.

In order to develop human resources with a grasp of the most up-to-date business management methods and extensive problem-solving abilities, MC sends trainees to business schools in Europe, America and Asia. After completing their training, they make use of their newly acquired knowledge and skills by working in various areas, such as developing new opportunities, contributing to the management of MC subsidiaries, etc.

MC offers training programs that are designed to sharpen employees' ability to think as managers and to equip them with the skills to help grow business value. These programs help to enhance employees' business and digital strategy skills and their HR management skills. Additionally, in line with the new personnel system, which highlights "supporting development" for subordinates and colleagues as a key mission for management, MC is creating and expanding training programs aimed at delivering the skills and knowledge necessary to support professional development.

MC appoints senior employees to act as instructors by giving them the responsibility of training new employees that join their workplace. These instructors are responsible for actively providing guidance on day-to-day operations and instructing and educating employees on the qualities necessary to succeed as an MC employee. We provide instructors with training on how to guide new employees and support their growth.

Run by MC with the support of professors from institutions including Stanford University, this Innovators’ Program aims to nurture the skills necessary to grow business value. The platform delivers focused learning around design thinking, and other thought processes that inspire innovation, as well as the background and mechanisms behind the rapid growth of Silicon Valley enterprises.

Designed for employees appointed to management-level positions, this system enables participants to take online courses from top global universities. Participants are free to choose from a wide range of programs that cover topics such as leadership, strategy, and finance.

MC dispatches management level employees to short-term programs at top business schools in the US, Europe, and Asia. These assignments are designed to enhance employees' management skills and build their networks by engaging with other program participants from diverse cultures and industries.

We have newly established the MC Leadership Program in 2025, providing on-demand learning opportunities to acquire management and leadership skills essential for leading organizations and driving transformation. The MC Leadership Program is offered at three levels—entry, mid, and executive—based on participants’ roles and responsibilities.

This program aims to help the next generation of MC and operating companies’ leaders learn and acquire leadership skills and organizational transformation abilities from the world's leading faculty. It also encourages participants to seize opportunities to build relationships and networks that transcend groups and geographic borders, and to consider the creation of MC Shared Value (MCSV).

This program, which targets executive candidates, has been running since FY2003. Its core feature is its management-issues workshops, which involve discussions and presentations for VPs and other current executives on a variety of the company's management issues. Lively opinion exchanges with the diversely experienced participants, lectures by internal and external business leaders, and other rich content make this program a good opportunity for executive candidates to broaden their perspectives, learn how senior managers think, and network with professionals from all of MC's business segments.

To provide employees with more opportunities for proactive learning and self-improvement, and thereby encourage “self-development,” MC continues to enhance and upgrade its independent study programs. We have also introduced an Online Learning Platform that can be accessed by all employees, creating an environment that allows people to freely select and learn from a variety of educational courses. This was done in order to help employees adapt to changes in the business environment, as well as to expand the number of learning opportunities that can be tailored to meet the needs of a diverse array of individuals.

To support the diversification, modernization, and optimization of learning content, as well as the improvement of individual abilities and skills through independent learning, MC has introduced a platform that allows students to learn from a wide range of online content. In addition to providing access to approximately 30,000 online resourses, this platform also contains over 100 videos covering internal topics.

MC utilizes its personnel system and various other means to integrate employee development with corporate growth. We recognize that a vital part of employee development is a strong personal desire to achieve independent growth, and therefore began providing a Career Vision Training course via e-learning in FY2022. Career Vision Training aims to teach participants how to reflect on their careers in a way that will help them continue to grow independently, visualize their own talents, and produce results by formulating and implementing action plans designed to realize their career visions.

MC offers various courses to foster skills and abilities that support development of expertise, foresight, and execution skills.

This program is designed to equip employees with knowledge and skills in management, practical business tasks, languages, and AI/Digital Literacy that they can utilize in their work. MC encourages employees to take a selection of designated courses, providing them with opportunities to develop their skills.

To foster talent capable of driving business initiatives with a deep understanding of AI and digital domains, we are implementing training programs from two key perspectives:

1. Enhancing AI/digital literacy for all employees
2. Developing high-potential talent with specialized strengths in AI/digital fields

Since fiscal year 2022, we have offered the MC Digital Transformation (DX) Advancement Program, an on-demand training program designed to help all employees acquire essential AI/digital literacy according to their level of understanding.

We provide a specialized course for managers—who serve as the main liaisons connecting the field and executive levels—to enhance their ability to integrate AI/digital technologies with business strategy from a company-wide perspective and optimize complex business structures. The course delivers both knowledge and practical skills necessary for this role.

Starting in fiscal year 2025, the JDLA Deep Learning for GENERAL certification has been made a requirement for promotion to management positions, while all employees are strongly encouraged to obtain it. As of July 2025, 956 employees across the company have acquired the certification.

To further develop individuals with strong capabilities in AI/digital domains, we implement programs such as the AI Talent Development Program, which includes preparatory training in Japan followed by several months of study at top engineering schools overseas.
In fiscal year 2024, 7 employees participated in this program, and 10 are scheduled to participate in fiscal year 2025.

To comprehensively strengthen its consolidated workforce of 80,000 global professionals, MC is dedicated to sharing values and building robust networks on a consolidated basis.

Since FY2010, the MC Group Gateway Program has been conducted as an orientation program for employees of MC's offices and subsidiaries worldwide. Held in Tokyo in both Japanese and English, the program's objectives are to encourage employees to share MC's corporate principles and values, and to foster a greater understanding of MC. Approximately 5,400 people have participated in the program since its inception. Similar orientation programs are being held in other regions.

In recent years, we have been transferring more employees hired at MC overseas offices to other countries to meet the growing needs of our global operations. These international transfers provide a wide range of experiences and help to refine employees’ global perspectives. At the same time, they give employees a broader understanding of MC and its corporate policies. MC will therefore continue to promote deployments on a consolidated, global basis, assigning the right people to the right positions.