Diversity Month 2025 events held globally at Group companies
Sony Group held Diversity Month 2025 under the theme of "We Belong, Create & Grow Together." In our 11th year, it has expanded widely from a domestic event to a global event, with each group company holding its own distinctive event.
To mark this event, Hiroki Totoki, President and CEO of Sony Group Corporation, shared a message to all employees.
Message from Hiroki Totoki: Diversity Month 2025
The Sony Group has established our long-term vision "Creative Entertainment Vision" for where Sony wants to be in 10 years, illustrating how we aim to deliver Kando through creativity and technology. To realize this, our great strengths are the diversity of our business and people.
Diversity Month is marked as an annual opportunity for Sony Group employees globally to reflect on and consider diversity. The year's theme, which marks our 11th year, continues from last year: "We Belong, Create & Grow Together." When we consciously think from a broader perspective, not limiting ourselves to our individual roles or current tasks, we can intertwine our wisdom and experiences with evolving technologies to create together. This generates new synergies and values, leading to mutual growth for both our employees and the Sony Group.
During the various activities and workshops held throughout Diversity Month, participants can learn about the different perspectives, values, and experiences of employees across businesses and organizations within the Group. The discoveries gained through these interactions will serve as catalysts for each individual's performance and challenges.
Let's continue to evolve by applying the insights gained from Diversity Month to our daily work so we can realize the Creative Entertainment Vision.
Diversity Month 2025 x Career Month*1 Special Lecture
On September 18, 2025, Kazuo Hirai, Representative Director of Project KIBO, and former President and CEO of Sony Corporation (now Sony Group Corporation), gave a special Diversity Month 2025 and Career Month lecture on the important skills required of all business professionals and all leaders.
In his lecture, Mr. Hirai stated that it is important for business professionals and leaders to be a "person of integrity" who are respected as individuals. He described the importance of enhancing EQ*2 and building relationships that allow for quality dialogue with those around you, which are the skills required of business professionals today.
Mr. Kazuo Hirai, Representative Director of Project KIBO, and former President and CEO of Sony Corporation (now Sony Group Corporation)
Next, Yasuhiro Ito, CPO, Corporate Executive Officer of Sony Group Corporation, took the stage for an interactive session with Mr. Hirai. The session was interspersed with questions gathered from employees in advance, such as "What kind of efforts or practices are effective in enhancing EQ? " In response to this question, Mr. Hirai said that it is important to first recognize the importance of EQ in management leadership and then apply what you have learned about EQ to the management field. The meeting concluded with a Q&A session from the participants, fielded by Mr. Hirai.
(Left) Yasuhiro Ito (CPO Sony Group Corporation) (Right) Mr. Hirai
- *1 Career Month: a period for you to pause and reflect on your career paths, reconsider your future direction, and engage in career discussions with your managers, in conjunction with the Mid-Year Review. (Conducted at several companies within Sony Group.)
- *2 EQ: Emotional intelligence Quotient
Events held in various countries and regions
Sony Group companies in each country and region held a variety of events, including talk sessions, roundtable discussions, and seminars, according to this year's theme, the initiatives of each company, and the interests of employees. In Japan, several events were held by Group companies and bottom-up employee activity groups, which included sessions to share experiences in building teams that leverage diversity, as well as discussions on accessibility featuring outside speakers. Many employees participated in the events. Overseas, many events focused on cultural and language differences were held, as well as hands-on workshops about visual and hearing impairments, and a seminar on balancing childcare and nursing care titled "Financial Wellness", providing an opportunity for many employees to think about diversity.
- Highlights of major topics from the hosted events -
<Domestic>
- Creativity and team building that makes the most of diversity
- Double care: nursing care and childcare
- Visual impairment and accessibility
- Foreign employees' work environments and interaction
- Mental health through mindfulness
<Overseas>
- Fostering EQ and corporate culture
- Support for work-life balance
- Neurodiversity
- Multicultural understanding
- Multilingual exchange
It was an opportunity for every employee to experience the diversity of the Sony Group across business and organizational boundaries.
The Sony Group will continue our efforts to create a workplace where everyone is able to work comfortably through a variety of measures.