Employees Propose Their Own Compensation to Their Boss! Gaiax Wins Excellence Award at Career Ownership Management AWARD 2026

Gaiax Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Executive Officer and President: Yuji Ueda; Securities Code: 3775; hereinafter "Gaiax") announced today that it has received the Excellence Award (SME category) in the Career Transformation category at the "Career Ownership Management AWARD 2026" (hereinafter "this Award"), held on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

This Award recognizes companies that practice initiatives aimed at improving corporate value through the autonomous growth of working individuals. The 4th annual Award in 2026 saw a record 68 companies and organizations nominated. After a rigorous selection process from 17 finalists, the Excellence Awards (5 categories) and the Grand Prix were decided. Gaiax received an Excellence Award in its first application.

About "Career Ownership Management AWARD"

"Career Ownership Management" refers to a management approach where companies link management strategy, business strategy, and human resource strategy to maximize the power of working individuals and transform it into societal strength. By increasing and leveraging individuals who proactively take ownership of their careers and work, collaborating with others while being self-reliant and self-driven (i.e., Career Ownership Talent), companies aim to achieve sustainable growth for both individuals and the organization.

This Award is organized by the Career Ownership Management AWARD Executive Committee and co-sponsored by the Career Ownership and Future of Work Consortium Secretariat (PERSOL CAREER CO., LTD.) as an activity to discover, share, and collectively intellectualize such initiatives.

Official Website: https://co-consortium.persol-career.co.jp/com-award/index.html List of Award-Winning Companies: https://co-consortium.persol-career.co.jp/com-award/awardwinner/index.html

Judge's Comment

Mr. Akira Masaka: Executive Officer, Chief HR Officer, Corporate Communications, Sustainability, and General Affairs at Eisai Co., Ltd.

What I found particularly excellent in their initiatives was that they practice the idea that maximizing individual success leads to maximizing corporate value as a core part of their management.

What was especially impressive was their shift from viewing employees as subjects to be managed to subjects of investment, transforming the company-individual relationship from vertical subordination to co-creation. In their quarterly "Milestone Sessions," employees themselves propose their life goals, objectives, and even their compensation, with the company acting not as an evaluator but as a coach and investor supporting their realization. This felt truly innovative.

Furthermore, their thorough disclosure of information and their system that assumes side jobs, entrepreneurship, and carve-outs, treating graduating from the company not as a loss but as value creation, was also very impressive. As a result, they have produced many entrepreneurs and listed companies, and the direct link between investment in human capital and increased corporate value is a highly insightful initiative.

Introduction of Judges (Titles omitted)

Kunio Ito: Director, CFO Education and Research Center, Hitotsubashi University (Chairman of this Award's Judging Committee)

Masato Arisawa: Former Senior Executive Officer, CHRO, EVP of HR Division at Isuzu Motors Limited / Representative Director, HR GENESIS Co., Ltd.

Chiharu Takakura: Co-Representative, Co-CEO, Takakura & Company LLC

Chikako Morimoto: Representative Director, All Rounder Agent, morich Co., Ltd.

Kenosuke Tanaka: Professor, Faculty of Career Design and Graduate School, Hosei University (Chairman of this Award's Executive Committee)

Akira Masaka: Executive Officer, Chief HR Officer, Corporate Communications, Sustainability, and General Affairs at Eisai Co., Ltd.

*Affiliations and positions are as of January 2026.

Gaiax's Initiatives

Gaiax is a startup studio with the mission of "connecting people." Without relying on uniform evaluation and compensation systems, it places at the core of its management a mechanism where each employee designs their career based on their own life mission. The main initiatives recognized for this award are as follows:

1. Milestone Session (MSS) — Self-Proposal System for Compensation and Goals

Once a quarter, employees themselves propose their "goals for the next three months" and "their own compensation." Superiors act not as evaluators but as coaches and investors supporting them. Work content and compensation are designed based on the individual's life goal (life work), with best-case, normal-case, and worst-case scenarios declared in advance. Compensation is determined by comparing it with actual results. In January 2026, this was featured on TBS Television's "THE TIME," as a "new way of working in the Reiwa era."

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