‘US client calls’: Infosys changes bus timings for employees at Bengaluru campus

Indian IT giant Infosys has revised the evening bus departure timings at its Electronic City campus in Bengaluru. The company took this decision after employees raised concerns about the long commuting hours. Responding to the employee concerns over long commuting hours the company changed the departure time at the Bengaluru campus as it was interfering with client calls and demos—particularly those aligned with US time zones.As reported by Economic Times, in an internal mail, the company announce that starting September 1, the internal shuttle service will depart at 4PM and 6PM, replacing the earlier 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM slots. In mail also cited “congestion” on city roads as the reason for the change in the timings. However, the employees feel that the real cause is the loss of productivity because of the peak-hour travel.

Client calls vs. commute chaos

“It used to take about 90 minutes or more for those of us boarding the 5:30 PM bus to reach home,” one employee told Economic Times, requesting anonymity. “This came in the way of handling official calls and hurt productivity.” The Infosys employees working with the US-based clients often continue to their workday after reaching home, but many complained that they were not able to take confidential calls during the commute. This feedback from employees lead to the change in the schedule of the shuttle.

Bengaluru’s traffic woes persist

Bengaluru’s traffic congestion still remain as a main challenge. Despite the recent launch of the 19-km Yellow Line Metro, the traffic on the roads remain the same. Notably, stations like Konappana Agrahara and Hebbagodi were funded by Infosys and Biocon, respectively.Infosys encourages employees to use its bus service to ease congestion both on city roads and within its campus, especially for those living in areas not served by the metro.

Work culture and flexibility

Infosys employees have a daily shift of 9.15 hours. As part of its return-to-office policy which the company introduced in November 2023, the employees are asked to work from office for at least 10 days a month. With over 323,500 employees, operational tweaks like bus rescheduling reflect the company’s effort to balance infrastructure challenges with global client demands.