Inclusion & Diversity

Circulate all forms of value

What does diversity mean to Mercari?

Since our company’s founding, we have learned that there are endless forms of value that can enrich people’s lives. Only by recognizing and embracing the diversity in our world will we be able to discover that value. For us, encouraging active dialog as well as diverse and unique perspectives will open up new opportunities for growth and help us keep evolving in order to achieve our mission. 

Unleash the potential in all people

What does inclusion mean to Mercari?

To unleash the potential in all people and create a world where everyone is empowered to live the life that they want, we need to start with ourselves. At Mercari, inclusion means not only respecting one another’s differences, but also making the most of our strengths, weaknesses, ideas, and perspectives, while understanding that it doesn’t mean we will be involved in all decisions or have all of our opinions be adopted in the end.

To create a more inclusive workplace, we must:

Learn from our differences

Respect each other’s differences and create a culture where we learn and grow precisely because we are all unique.

Create equal opportunities

Create equal opportunities for all Mercari members so that each person can embody our values of Go Bold, All for One, and Be a Pro.

Stand against discrimination

Never stand for discrimination or unfair treatment based on an individual’s background, and continue using relevant data in order to improve the environment we share.

Initiatives for an Inclusive Workplace

Language Learning Programs and Communication Support

Mercari Group’s members come from a wide variety of backgrounds, with employees from over 50 different countries and counting. We pride ourselves on our Japanese/English language learning programs and communication support provided by a dedicated translation and interpretation team to ensure an inclusive environment where everyone can join discussions regardless of their language level or background.

Pride@Mercari

Pride@Mercari is an internal community of LGBT+ employees and allies. We work to provide a safe and open environment where LGBT+ employees can be themselves, as well as to create an inclusive culture and environment by raising awareness within the company about the issues such employees face. The community also plans and holds events to deepen understanding of LGBT+ individuals and helps to improve HR initiatives within the company.

Mercari Pride E-Learning

Mercari Pride E-Learning is a training program developed in-house, led by the Pride@Mercari community, and held for all employees with the goal of increasing company-wide understanding toward LGBT+ individuals.

Unconscious Bias Workshop

The Unconscious Bias Workshop is a training program held for all employees involved in recruiting and evaluation (managers, hiring teams, and HRBPs), with the goal of ensuring that participants understand unconscious bias and make a habit of recognizing it on a daily basis in order to ensure that it does not influence their own decisions and communication.

Communication Team Building (CTB)

Communication Team Building is a team building session to better understand the reasons behind some of the communication issues commonly found in teams with members from different cultures and nationalities. Through this session, we show people how they can adjust their communication style depending on the situation or who they communicate with.

Initiatives for a Diverse Workplace

Build@Mercari

Build@Mercari is a software engineering training program for minorities in the tech industry, held by Mercari for participants outside the company. This online program, which combines training and an internship, focuses on people who, for any number of reasons, have not received certain opportunities in life. The program particularly emphasizes support for women and members of the LGBT+ community, groups that are especially underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and tech fields.

Disability-Inclusive Hiring

Mercari’s Group mission is “circulate all forms of value to unleash the potential in all people.” Here, “all people” refers to not just Mercari users, but also Mercari employees. In order to achieve an organization where the potential of diverse talent can be unleashed regardless of background, we take on I&D efforts as a high-priority business matter and promote various initiatives, disability-inclusive hiring being one of them. Mercari has created an environment where employees who have worked in disability-inclusive positions before, but haven’t found growth opportunities, and those who wish to take on challenges regardless of any disabilities, can Go Bold and take on the challenges they want. 

D&I AWARD 2023

Mercari was recognized in the D&I Award 2023 for our efforts to create a diverse workplace. Organized by JobRainbow Co., Ltd., the award acknowledges companies leading diversity and inclusion initiatives in Japan.

• Diversity score: 98/100 points
• Recognition: Best Workplace
• Recognition criteria: A company recognized as a Best Workplace is one that promotes D&I in line with global standards. Not only does the company itself foster a corporate culture of D&I, but the employees within proactively work to promote D&I themselves. The company’s stance on D&I is reflected in all aspects of its services, business, and organization, and extends outside the company as well.

Initiatives for a Fair Workplace

Corrective Measures to Address the Gender Pay Gap

In addition to gender pay gap, which shows the average difference in pay between men and women within an organization, Mercari also calculated for “unexplained pay gap,” which is the gap not due to differences in things such as role, grade, or job type, in order to ascertain the situation of the gender pay gap at the company more accurately. Results showed a gender pay gap of 37.5%, with 7% comprising this “unexplained pay gap.” The company implemented corrective measures to address this unexplained pay gap and adjust compensation, ultimately shrinking the gap to 2.5%. Mercari will continue working to address the gender pay gap by conducting regular monitoring of the wage gap using regression analysis and revising hiring practices so that new hires don’t carry over any wage gap they experienced prior to joining Mercari.

EDGE Assess Certification

The Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE) Certification is a global assessment standard. Mercari received the EDGE Assess certification level, which recognizes organizations who are committed to an impactful action plan for the achievement of gender equality. In its audit, EDGE conducts an assessment from the following five perspectives: equal pay for equivalent work; recruitment and promotion; leadership development, training, and mentoring; flexible working arrangements; and organizational culture. Mercari is the first Japanese company to attain this certification.