Tech giant Infosys made headlines on Saturday for asking all of its employees that are working from home to share a monthly breakdown of their electricity bills with the company.
The company said the initiative is part of its long-term sustainability programme and not a cost-cutting exercise. Infosys’s recent move has since then triggered widespread debate on social media with netizens raising all kinds of questions.
What did Infosys CFO say?
According to an internal email sent by Infosys CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka to employees, the IT major had taken this step as a part of a larger work-from-home electricity consumption survey.
The email, accessed by The Economic Times, explained that Infosys is collecting household electricity usage data to better measure the environmental impact of hybrid work and improve the company’s clean energy reporting.
Under Infosys’ hybrid policy, employees work from home for most of the month and are required to come to the office for at least 10 days a month.
As per Sanghrajka, electricity used while working from home also adds to its overall carbon footprint of the company, making it necessary to include home energy use in its sustainability calculations.
“Electricity consumed while working from home also contributes to Infosys’ greenhouse gas emission footprint. To improve the accuracy of our reporting and design better sustainability initiatives, it is important to understand work-from-home energy usage,” the CFO wrote.
The Bengaluru-based software company, has presently onboarded nearly 300,000 employees, as per calculations done by The Economic Times.
What else have employees been asked to share?
Employees will be required to submit an absolute breakdown of their electricity consumption data to the company.
As per an ET report, the questions included in the electricity consumption survey range from the use of electrical appliances, fans, AC, heaters, and the wattage of lights to details like whether you have solar panels installed at your residence.
The survey also asked employees to share an innovative idea or two on energy saving, if any of them have successfully implemented one at home.
As per Sanghrajka, the entire initiative is being undertaken because of Infosys’s commitment to reducing its global carbon footprint. In his email Sanghrajka said that Infosys has reduced its per capita energy consumption by 55% since 2008, and sourced about 77% of its electricity needs from renewable sources last year.
In 2020-21, Infosys became one of the first companies to estimate and report work-from-home emissions.
Internet’s reaction
The move has triggered mixed reactions online. Some social media users praised Infosys for taking sustainability seriously and trying to measure the real environmental impact of hybrid work. Many called it a “progressive step” in corporate climate responsibility.
Some users questioned the optics of the initiative, pointing out the financial burden on employees. “Work from home means companies save on office costs, but employees pay higher electricity bills — and now they’re being asked to share that data too,” one user wrote.
Others raised concerns about trust and transparency. “The intent may be sustainability, but execution matters. Transparency needs to work both ways,” another post read.
A section of users also criticised the hybrid work policy itself, arguing that commuting adds to emissions. “If carbon reduction is the goal, forcing people to travel to crowded cities and burn fuel makes no sense. Remote work already cuts emissions far more than surveys,” a user commented.