Sustainability

Our sustainability

Our approach to sustainability

SMS Group has established Management Philosophy of "continual growth and contribution to society as an everlasting corporate group" as what we pursue universally. We aim to increase the sum total of our contributions to society by everlasting with growth. SMS's Mission is “to improve people's quality of life by providing information infrastructure suitable for an aging society.”

We believe that by working to solve the various social issues that arise in an aging society as the foundation of our business, and by realizing our Mission, we can contribute to the realization of a sustainable society. By working to solve social issues through our business activities, we can achieve sustainable growth as a company that is needed by society. Increasing our corporate value over the long term through the accumulation of sustainable growth more powerfully supports the realization of our Mission and leads to the realization of a sustainable society.

In order to support and promote these activities that create shared value with society, it is important to develop and strengthen the management platform, taking into account the demands of society, including perspectives such as governance, human capital, consideration for global environment, information security, respect for human rights, and prevention of corruption/bribery.

We will continue to earn our various stakeholders' trust and meet their expectations and contribute to the realization of a sustainable society through these activities.

Value creation by solving social issues in an aging society

We are engaged in business activities to address three social issues relating to an aging society by establishing specific solutions targeting each social issue.

In Japan, based on trends in these social issues and their solutions in an aging society, we are working to solve them through four business areas: Career, Elderly/Disability Care Operators, Healthcare, and Senior Life.

Issue 1: Difficulty in sustaining high-quality medical care and elderly/disability care services

While the demand for medical care and elderly/disability care services is increasing as the population ages, the shortage of workers to support these services has become a serious problem due to a decline in the working-age population. According to national estimates, the supply and demand gap of medical care and elderly/disability care workers is expected to expand to between 60,000 to 270,000 nurses and 220,000 care workers in 2025*. The growing shortage of medical care and elderly/disability care professionals will make it difficult to provide high-quality medical care and elderly/disability care services.

*Nurses: MHLW, “Subcommittee on supply and demand of nursing staff, study group on supply and demand of medical care workers”
Care workers: MHLW, “Required number of elderly care staff based on the 8th plan for long-term care insurance”

Solution: Solve labor shortages and uneven distribution of medical care and elderly/disability care professionals
Business Area: Career Business
Related SDGs

In the Career Business, we aim to solve the social issue 1: "difficulty in sustaining high-quality medical care and elderly/disability care services," by contributing to "solving labor shortages and uneven distribution of medical care and elderly/disability care professionals" through optimal matching between care professionals and care business operators.

Initiatives in the Career Business

In our Medical Care Career business, we provide professionals with various types of support in pursuing their ideal careers throughout their professional lives, including support in finding/changing jobs, returning to work, and developing their careers. We promote optimal matching between professionals and operators in order to solve uneven workforce distribution among medical functions and regions.

In our Elderly Care Career business, we promote new entry from outside the industry by helping new entrants obtain qualifications and find good jobs at good operators. We also contribute to building better working environments by helping operators solve their HR issues, such as recruitment and improvement of working environments, and we work to solve the shortage of elderly/disability care professionals by preventing personnel from retiring from the industry through optimal matching between professionals and operators.

Thanks to professionals who pursue ideal careers and work vibrantly and operators supported by skilled staff members and good management, patients and the elderly, who are end users, can continuously enjoy high-quality medical care and elderly/disability care services. We believe this will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.

Solution: Improve the management of elderly/disability care operators
Business Area: Elderly/Disability Care Operators Business
Related SDGs

In the Elderly/Disability Care Operators Business, we aim to solve the social issue 1: "difficulty in sustaining high-quality medical care and elderly/disability care services," by contributing to "improving the management of elderly/disability care operators" through the provision of "Kaipoke", a management support platform for elderly/disability care operators.

Initiatives in the Elderly/Disability Care Operators Business

While the number of elderly care operators continues to increase along with the increase in the elderly population, many of them are small operators. It is difficult for these operators to focus on caring for the elderly due to various operational and management issues such as numerous indirect tasks, including document preparation, insufficient manpower, low purchasing power, and cash-flow issues. In addition, the number of users of welfare services for persons with disabilities is increasing year by year due to the growing social awareness toward disabilities and easier access to diagnosis. Accordingly, the number of service offices providing welfare services for persons with disabilities has been continuously increasing, but they face the same management issues as elderly care operators. Kaipoke provides comprehensive support for the management of elderly/disability care operators, working to improve their management and service quality, with more than 40 services that support operations, recruitment, purchasing, finance, sales, M&A, etc., on top of the insurance claim service that is essential for elderly/disability care operations, through a one-stop platform.

Thanks to operators that improve their management using Kaipoke and professionals who work vibrantly for such operators, care service users and their families, who are the end users, can continuously enjoy high-quality elderly/disability care services. We believe this will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.

Issue 2: More severe burden on the working generation

As the elderly population increases, social security expenses that support pensions, medical care, and elderly care, and other welfare services are expected to increase to 190 trillion yen in 2040, about 1.6 times the 2018 level^*1. On the other hand, due to the decline in the working-age population, we will see shrinking workforces, not only in medical care and elderly/disability care, but in all industries in Japan. The average number of people in the working generation required to support one elderly person is expected to decline from 2.1 in 2018 to 1.6 in 2040, placing an increasingly heavy burden on the working generation ^*2.

*1. MHLW, “Trends in social security benefit costs”, Cabinet Secretariat, CAO, MOF, MHLW, “Future outlook for social security in 2040”
*2. MIC “Census”, “Population estimates”, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research “2023 Estimated future population of Japan”

Solution: Increase the number of healthy people in the work force
Business Area: Healthcare Business
Related SDGs

In the Healthcare Business, we aim to solve the social issue 2: "more severe burden on the working generation," by contributing to "increasing the number of healthy people in the work force" through the provision of a platform that supports health and productivity management of companies.

Initiatives in the Healthcare Business

Among the working generation, there are many patients and potential patients with life-style related diseases, which often progress to critical illnesses such as diabetes and dementia. In order to halt this decline in the work force and increase its productivity, it is essential for people to be able to work healthily for a long period of time. The Japanese government is focusing on measures to prevent lifestyle-related diseases and improve mental health. In particular, the government is actively promoting policies to promote the spread of "health and productivity management," in which companies work to improve the health of employees and their families. We are working to improve the health of their employees and their families by developing a health and productivity management platform, which provides companies and health insurance associations with evidence-based digital health services that utilize the capabilities of healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and dietitians.

Supporting the health and productivity management of companies improves the quality of life for employees and their families and leads to an increase in the number of people who can work healthily and vibrantly for a long period of time. We believe this will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.

Issue 3: Difficulty in solving problems related to living in an aging society

As the population ages, the services required in society are also changing. In an aging society, new needs such as elderly care and end-of-life planning are emerging and the demand for these services is expanding. However, the available information related to living in an aging society is insufficient in terms of quality and quantity, and it is not provided in an organized manner. Furthermore, there are also concerns that the future labor shortage in many industries will result in an inability to adequately supply the services required by an aging society. This will make it difficult for the elderly and their families to solve various life-related problems.

Solution: Provide a variety of options and high-quality decision-making information
Business Area: Senior Life Business
Related SDGs

In the Senior Life Business, we aim to solve the social issue 3: "difficulty in solving problems related to living in an aging society," by "providing a variety of options and high-quality decision-making information" through the development of a problem-solving platform that connects people with concerns and needs related to living to consultation services and services that help solve those concerns and needs.

Initiatives in the Senior Life Business

In our web community for people struggling with elderly care, we provide support in solving various problems centering on elderly care through interaction among members and advice from specialists. We also provide comprehensive support in solving all the problems faced by end users by connecting people who have clear needs relating to housing, food, end-of-life planning, etc. to services introducing business operators.

By providing information and a variety of options that can help end users solve their worries and anxieties, they can solve problems and make decisions on their own initiative, thereby achieving better lifestyles. We believe this will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.

Overseas

Related SDGs

Overseas, we provide a Medical Platform Business, which supports the marketing activities of medical-related companies by building a medical platform optimized for APAC that connects healthcare professionals and medical-related companies, and a Global Career Business, which promotes cross-border and domestic matching between healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals. Through these businesses, we believe that we can contribute to the realization of a sustainable society by improving the availability and safety of medical care in APAC and solving the global shortage and uneven distribution of healthcare professionals.

Management platform for value creation

It is important to develop and strengthen our management platform, which supports business activities in order to create values and contribute to the realization of a sustainable society. We engage in various efforts to meet society's expectations, to conduct business in a more transparent and sincere manner, and to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.

External Recognition

FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index

Developed by FTSE Russell, a member of the London Stock Exchange Group, the index is designed to measure Japanese company performance demonstrating specific Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices and is used as a key investment decision criterion by investors around the world. We have been a constituent of the index since July 2024.

FTSE Russell confirms that SMS Co., Ltd. has been independently assessed according to the index criteria, and has satisfied the requirements to become a constituent of the FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index. The FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index is used by a wide variety of market participants to create and assess responsible investment funds and other products.
FTSE Blossom Japan Index Series

MSCI Japan Empowering Women (WIN)

Developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI, U.S.), this is an index for ESG investment that selects companies with excellent gender diversity from each GICS®* industry classification in the parent index (MSCI Japan IMI Top 700 Index) to construct the index. We have been a constituent of the index since June 2024. *GICS：Global Industry Classification Standard
*GICS：Global Industry Classification Standard

The inclusion of SMS Co., Ltd. in any MSCI index, and the use of MSCI logos, trademarks, service marks or index names herein, do not constitute a sponsorship, endorsement or promotion of SMS Co., Ltd. by MSCI or any of its affiliates. The MSCI indexes are the exclusive property of MSCI. MSCI and the MSCI index names and logos are trademarks or service marks of MSCI or its affiliates.