Shiseido and Partner Company Employee Childcare Support Service 「KANGAROOM＋」 Launches “Postpartum Support Service”

Shiseido Company, Limited (“Shiseido”) will launch a ”Postpartum Support Service” in November 2023 to provide assistance to employees with children under 3 months old through ”KANGAROOM+” an employee childcare support service for Shiseido and its partner companies. The service will provide housework and childcare assistance by licensed, qualified postpartum care professionals to postpartum families. This is the first time KANGAROOM＋ is offering a service in which visits are made to the employees’ homes.
Since April 2023, Shiseido has been offering comprehensive childcare support to its employees and those of its partner companies through ”KANGAROOM+.” This support service has been provided by Shiseido’s subsidiary, KODOMOLOGY Co., LTD. and caters to employees during the prenatal period, as well as for employees with children spanning a wide age range, from infants to elementary school students. With the introduction of the ”Postpartum Support Service,” KANGAROOM+ will provide seamless support for work-life balance, beginning before birth and continuing until the child graduates from elementary school.

Background and Aim of the ”Postpartum Support Service”:

The period following childbirth is a critical juncture for women when both physical and mental support is crucial. It also marks the start of the family's journey in raising their children. In recent years, Japanese society has been placing greater emphasis on encouraging male participation in childcare with the momentum increasing following the establishment of the “Sango-Papa Iku-kyu” in October 2022. Through the support of KANGAROOM+'s professional staff, this service aims to help female employees maintain both physical and mental health and support them in their healthy return to work, while helping male employees learn about childcare and encouraging them to take paternity leave. The company will continue its efforts to create a work environment where all employees can be their authentic selves and actively design their own career paths.

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[Message from Emiko Ashida, Shiseido Deputy Chief People Officer]
At Shiseido, we are committed to our “People First” philosophy, recognizing that our human resources are our most valuable assets. We are promoting our Diversity and Inclusion (D＆I) initiative to inspire every employee to work with vigor and passion, creating new value in the process, in pursuit of our mission, “BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD.”
Our new postpartum support service is designed to assist employees with children under three months old, catering to both mothers and fathers. This innovative service, led by our KANGAROOM+ professionals, involves in-home visits to offer support for housework and childcare. It will be beneficial to our female employees during the delicate period of maternity leave and childcare leave, where both their mental and physical well-being are of utmost importance. It provides them with the opportunity to take time for themselves to focus on their mental and physical self-care. For our male employees on paternity leave, this service will offer an opportunity for them to learn about childcare as a new father. Our commitment is to ensure that this new initiative contributes to the well-being of all our employees on maternity leave and childcare leave.

[Message from Yukari Suzuki, Shiseido Director, Senior Executive Officer Chief, D＆I Officer and KODOMOLOGY President]
Shiseido has approximately 17,000 female employees in Japan, and due to various efforts since the 1990s, our employees no longer have to give up their careers due to childbirth or childcare. (Current return-to-work rate after childcare leave stands at 95.6%.)
Experiences of childbirth and child-rearing enrich individuals with diverse perspectives and new values, and these can be invaluable assets in the workplace. However, challenges faced by the generation raising children still persist. These individuals are often stretched thin with time and have little to spare both physically and emotionally. The addition of a major role as a ”parent” cannot be shouldered by mothers alone. I believe that it is the responsibility of the society as a whole, including fathers, local communities, and businesses, to be involved in the upbringing of children.
By providing new mothers and their families with the opportunity to get a decent amount of sleep,and time for themselves such as for reading and simply enjoying their daily routines, we aim to give their minds and bodies some relief and instil them with hope for a more enriching life than ever before.
Through KANGAROOM+, we are determined to bring these aspirations to life and contribute to the creation of a “new paradigm of work-life balance” in Japan.

Details of other services offered by KANGAROOM＋

【KANGAROOM＋Services】 Launched April
■New Parent Training：Hands-on training for new mothers and fathers. Providing in-person and online programs for newborn care, experiencing pregnancy with a pregnancy suit, and preparing for life with a child, including balancing work and parenting.
■Postpartum Support Service（1 week after birth – 3 month）：Housework and childcare assistance (starts November 2023). Providing housework and childcare assistance by qualified postpartum care professionals who are licensed childcare experts to postpartum families.
■Sitter Service（57days after birth – 6th grade）：Various work style support. Supporting various work styles, such as by providing temporary early-morning care needed due to work, refressher care needed during maternity/paternity leave, and care during kindergarten and elementary school days off and long vacations.
■Parent-Child Events：Parent-child events. Organizing parent-child events, such as summer festival events, Halloween events, Christmas events, and other occasions.
■Kids Program（Elementary school children）：Work experience program. Running the “Shiseido work experience program” during the elementary school summer vacation and providing opportunities for children to become interested in their parents’ work and increase communication between parents and children.
■Seminar for “work-childcare balance”：In-person/online seminars. Offering in-person/online seminars with useful information on parenting (injuries at home, finding childcare, overcoming the first grade barrier, etc.).

About KODOMOLOGY Co., Ltd

■Business：Consulting services and operation of on-site childcare facilities, operation of babysitting business.
■Incorporation：February 20th, 2017
■Capital：100 million yen （100% subsidiary of Shiseido Company, Limited）
■Representative：Yukari Suzuki, President
■Office：6-2, Higashi-shimbashi 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8310, Japan