special feature Special Needs Employment
Work Happiness Farms help realize
normalization while supporting social
and employment independence for
people with disabilities
vol.01
To realize normalization so that people with disabilities
can live normal lives as members of their communities, the
Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with
Disabilities requires Japanese companies to employ certain
numbers of people with disabilities. While the number of
companies actively employing people with disabilities is
growing, hiring tends to focus on people with physical
disabilities. Employment of those with intellectual and
mental disabilities remains low due to a belief that few
jobs are suited to their abilities. Employment of people
with intellectual disabilities in particular is very low,
a major impediment to their economic independence.
Under these conditions, S-Pool Plus, Inc. launched
Work Happiness Farms, the first farms in Japan intended to
be leased to companies that want to help people with
disabilities work with vitality in rewarding and enjoyable
jobs. This reflects its vision of contributing to society
by creating employment for as many people with
disabilities as it can.
Employment rate for people with
disabilities aged 18–65
16%
Workplaces where people with disabilities can work with
vitality,
with a retention rate of 92%
Work Happiness Farms are farms owned by S-Pool Plus and
leased to multiple companies as places where their employees
with disabilities can work. Based on their motto of safety
and cleanliness, they offer environments in which even those
with severe intellectual disabilities can work with peace of
mind.
They provide companies not just with places of
employment, but support from people with disabilities to
hiring and retention. They make significant contributions to
employment creation in the community by recruiting
homemakers and senior citizens who live in the local area as
managers assigned to the farms by companies.
As of
November 2024, the number of Work Happiness Farms had grown
to a total of 53 nationwide. The number of companies using
the farms had grown to 664, chiefly consisting of large
firms, which provide regular employment for 4,405 people
with disabilities. Of the companies that use Work Happiness
Farms, 97% are continuous users. The retention rate among
those with disabilities working at the farms has been 92%
over the past 12 years.
Striving for a structure that makes everybody happy
The birth of Work Happiness Farms has provided regular
employment for some 4,400 people with disabilities. But a
look across Japanese society as a whole shows that rates of
employment of those with intellectual and mental
disabilities remain low, and many people with disabilities
are able to earn only about 10,000–20,000 yen per
month in workshops and similar workplaces. In addition, the
statutory rate of employees with disabilities will raise to
2.7% in July 2026, requiring companies to employ even more
people with disabilities. In not a few cases, however, this
has resulted in mismatches between those with disabilities
and their job assignments.
We are expanding Work Happiness Farms with the aim of
realizing a society in which all people with disabilities
can work with vitality and in comfort. We also will create
structures to enable those with disabilities to work in ways
suited to their own individuality, not just in agriculture
but in other fields as well. Our goal is to build a society
in which all people can experience true work happiness.
column
Use of Work Happiness Farms has promoted employment of people with disabilities and inspired new awareness among employees
Our company is a special subsidiary of SMBC Nikko
Securities Inc., established in April 2015 to provide
a working environment in which people with
disabilities can demonstrate their potential to the
fullest and promote their employment. In September
2015, as the number of employees expanded and
employees with disabilities grew older, we opened
MiRun Farm at Work Happiness Farm Ichihara (Chiba
Prefecture). In 2016 we launched the normalization
training program using this farm. To date, this
popular training program has been held about 180
times, training some 700 people. It is succeeding in
making the hearts of trainee employees “barrier
free.”
I feel in my heart that MiRun Farm is a place
where the following two elements of the SMBC Nikko
Securities Group's Management Philosophy are put into
practice: “To seek to be a company that grows
together with our customers, and inspires their
supreme trust” and “To create a work
environment in which each employee demonstrates
individuality under a sense of unity, while respecting
diversity.”
Osamu Matsukawa
SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.
Director
Nikko MiRun Inc.
