The Work-Life Support and Diversity Office (WL Office) is the place that acts with aim of achieving a workplace in which all JAXA personnel can work in high spirits. The WL Office is involved in all sorts of reforms centering on the dual axis of "promoting diversity" and "workstyle reforms." As the Director of the WL Office, SATO Masahiko explains: "If there is no diversity in an organization then I don't think that new ideas, sets of values and information will be generated. That's why I believe it is important to sweep away all the prejudices that unconsciously become part of an organization's fabric."

On facet of the WL Office's initiatives is promoting activities by female personnel. For example, in terms of support tailored to lifestyle changes interaction meetings are held at which female personnel can discuss child-rearing anxieties with older personnel members. By preparing a range of work system options such as the system to assist in the costs of babysitters for sick children, shorter working hours and flextime, JAXA supports the balancing of child-rearing and work. In addition, there is also a system under which personnel can take temporary leave and later return to their posts in the event that their spouse is posted overseas. All these activities satisfy the criteria of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and in FY2017 the Ministry officially recognized JAXA's initiatives towards supporting the activities of women awarding us the Eruboshi Mark, and in FY2019 it conferred further official recognition upon JAXA as an outstanding business regarding child-rearing support with the Kurumin Mark. Furthermore, JAXA is presenting the activities of female personnel on the YouTube. We film interviews with the theme of "Grasp what you want to do at work and in your private life!" in which are featured personnel who have used the internal solicitation system to apply for and move to sections of JAXA that they are interested in, and those working for JAXA overseas. These are presented to introduce to students the ways that women work at JAXA.

With regard to the initiatives being followed for workstyle reforms, which aim to make JAXA a workplace where everybody finds it easy to carry out their jobs, Sato continues: "The first thing to do is make a reality of work-life balance. We aim to become an organization in which rather than being constantly snowed under with work, each individual's varied ways of working according to their life cycle are allowed and supported. We are currently pursuing the shift from "with COVID" to "after COVID." And in order to enable research and development to be concentrated on, we hope to continue to think about and prepare the most efficient ways of working in the future."

What the WL Office is aiming for is a workplace in which innovation is successively generated through free thinking. That's why, as Sato says, "We will steadily make a reality of measures one by one." The future reforms made by the WL Office will carry on drawing even more attention.

The video that the WL Office produces can be viewed here (in Japanese only):