In North America, Honda has been committed to practicing Honda’s philosophy of “Respect for the Individual” through enhanced diversity, equity, and inclusion activities. Honda believes that activities to promote an inclusive environment that embraces people of different backgrounds, genders, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and abilities can create value for its customers and communities.
In one of the symbolic efforts, Honda and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began with the creation of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) in 1989 and expanded with the creation of the Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB) in 2003.

Honda Battle of the Bands

Honda supports the mission of HBCUs to provide higher education and career opportunities for their communities and has been a long-time supporter of HBCUs for more than 35 years. This support includes scholarships and a variety of other initiatives to support the dreams and potential of students at HBCUs and develop future leaders. Through HBOB and HCASC, Honda has engaged more than 200,000 students and provided more than 14 million dollars in support for educational programs and facility improvements at HBCUs.
In 2023, Honda was named one of the Top 50 Diversity Companies by DiversityInc in recognition of its voluntary efforts to work with associates, suppliers, dealers, and community partners.

Diversity TOP50

In Brazil, South America, Honda is providing Diversity/Inclusion and Unconscious Bias training to the leaders of its Brazilian companies with the aim of strengthening their understanding and deepening their knowledge of diversity.

Training in Sao Paulo

Training in Manaus

This training started in 2022 and is based on the Honda Philosophy. It focuses on ensuring that participants correctly acquire and implement knowledge, including what actions can be taken in the workplace to expand awareness in diversity, deepen understanding minority groups, and strengthen respect for the individual. In 2023, the training was conducted at all management levels, with a total of 524 participants.

In Europe, Honda is working on various initiatives to achieve more diverse work environments.
In human resource management, we constantly monitor and report the percentage of women in management and the percentage of foreign nationals in management within the headquarters.
In recruiting, Honda ensures that its activities are unbiased and carries an Inclusion and Diversity Statement. It publicizes its respect for diversity in all job advertisements and is also used in communications with associates.
Diversity and inclusion have been included in training for managers throughout Europe and are scheduled to be included also in training for all associates in FY2025.
In human resource allocation, the handling of transfers and recruitment methods have been revised to allow for flexible transfers. This allows associates to be transferred throughout the European region according to their individual circumstances.
Additionally, Honda has implemented a number of other local initiatives, including an outreach program to increase understanding of people with disabilities.

In Asia and Oceania, there are 41 Honda locations in 13 countries, employing more than 110,000 associates of different nationalities, races, cultures, and languages. Since 2018, Honda has been working to promote the exchange of human resources within the region to maximize the power of its diverse workforce and help them find the right place in the right job for them.

Stationed associates in the region

Honda aims to increase the mobility of human resources by creating a common HR platform. First, Honda has defined common competencies based on the Honda Philosophy, adding regional characteristics, and has instilled a common set of values for the region. Then, based on these common competencies, the Company is reviewing its personnel system, salary structure, and other systems. Through these efforts, Honda has gradually reduced barriers to cross-border personnel exchanges.
As a result, the number of non-Japanese associates stationed in other country locations, which was small until a few years ago, increased to 41 in FY2024. Currently, most of these stationing is through personnel exchanges with Asia Honda Motor, the regional headquarters company, but in the future, Honda aims to accelerate personnel exchanges among all locations.

Workplace

In China, Honda is committed to providing workplaces free of any gender and ethnic discrimination, based on the social principles of gender and ethnic equality in hiring, promotion, granting opportunities, and compensation.
Female associates are active in all areas of Honda and actively contribute to the Company’s development.

Women’s Day event

China has 55 ethnic minorities in addition to the Han Chinese, but Honda employs and utilizes excellent human resources regardless of ethnicity. Honda’s China headquarters employs workers from many ethnic minorities, including Manchu, Tujia, and Hui.

Dancing in ethnic costumes