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As part of its newly-published Corporate Social Responsibility report, Nintendo has clarified its stance on diversity and inclusivity, detailing the ways in which it aims to "create a work environment that supports and empowers each and every one" of its employees.

A two-page spread in the annual report highlights several initiatives Nintendo has established to support employees and work towards improved diversity, equity and inclusion. Examples given include Nintendo of America's Employee Resource Groups (or ERGs), such as 'Black @ Nintendo Dialogue (B@ND)' which "researches and creates volunteer opportunities for Nintendo of America and its employees to engage with the Black community and raise awareness of the company’s DE&I activities".

Another ERG, 'Nintendo Women and Allies', supports female employees by "offering a variety of empowering opportunities that help promote women’s careers. These include presentations from women in management positions, cross-departmental communication to promote leadership, presentation skill development and networking."

A major focus of the spread, however, talks about the introduction of a Partnership System, a new initiative that was introduced in March of this year to ensure that employees are treated equally regardless of their gender or sexuality. We'll share Nintendo's full statement on the program for you below:

"At Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Japan), we want to create a work environment that supports and empowers each and every one of our unique employees.

We introduced the Partnership System in March 2021 as one initiative based on this philosophy. This system ensures employees who are in a domestic partnership with a same-sex partner have the same benefits as employees in an opposite-sex marriage. We have also established that a common-law marriage between a same-sex couple will be observed in the same way as a legal marriage.

In our Code of Conduct for employees in Japan, we had already established that “we do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, nationality, ideology, religion, creed, origin, social status, class, occupation, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity,” prohibiting all forms of discrimination. In addition, with the introduction of the Partnership System, we took the opportunity to revise our internal regulations regarding harassment to clearly prohibit discriminatory comments based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as disclosing someone’s privately held sexual orientation against their will.

Alongside the introduction of the Partnership System in Japan, we notified our employees about the issue of gender diversity with a message from our President on the company intranet as a means of raising awareness. In this message, the President called for renewed understanding that even speech and actions which are not intended to harm can cause significant emotional pain, asking for understanding and support for creating an environment in which everyone can work comfortably.

By improving our company systems and conducting training, we will continue our work to create an environment where each of our many diverse employees can fully realize their talents."

The CSR report has also given us a look at the number of employees working at Nintendo, including details on the gender split per region, as well as a more detailed look into its manufacturing and environmental policies.

[source nintendo.co.jp]