Every employee had a part to play in this extraordinary achievement
In May 2021, Keysight Technologies closed the chapter on its first major sustainability cycle and opened a more demanding one, pledging net zero operations by 2040 and setting concrete diversity hiring benchmarks for the near term. The company, a quiet but consequential force in the design and validation of modern technology, had largely honored its earlier environmental and social commitments — and chose that moment of accountability to raise the bar rather than rest within it. There is something instructive in this sequence: the willingness to measure, to fall short in some places, to exceed in others, and then to recommit with greater specificity. It is the rhythm of institutions that take their role in the larger human story seriously.
- Keysight's energy conservation target went unmet — an 8% reduction against a 10% goal — as pandemic disruptions redirected resources away from planned efficiency work.
- Against that shortfall, the company's social impact numbers surged, reaching 818,000 students through STEM programs and delivering $1.7 billion in community value, far beyond what was promised.
- The new net zero pledge by 2040 raises the stakes considerably, aligning Keysight with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C ceiling and committing the company to a structural transformation of its operations over the coming two decades.
- Immediate diversity targets — 35% women and 45% underrepresented minorities among new hires by end of fiscal 2021 — translate long-term aspiration into short-term, auditable accountability.
- By making these goals public and specific, Keysight has traded the comfort of vague intention for the exposure of measurable commitment — a posture that will be tested in the years ahead.
In May 2021, Keysight Technologies released its 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, marking the end of a five-year sustainability cycle and the beginning of a more ambitious one. The company, which generates roughly $4.2 billion in annual revenue and trades on the NYSE under KEYS, had spent years measuring itself against specific environmental and social benchmarks — and the results were instructive in their unevenness.
On the environmental side, Keysight surpassed its water conservation goal, achieving an 18.9% reduction against a 15% target. Energy conservation, however, fell short at 8% against a 10% goal, a gap the company attributed to pandemic-related disruptions that redirected resources toward employee safety. The social numbers were more encouraging: over 818,000 students were engaged through STEM education initiatives — nearly 150,000 beyond the target — and approximately $1.7 billion in community value was committed through philanthropy and volunteering, exceeding the $1.25 billion goal.
Rather than pause at these results, Keysight announced a new and more demanding set of commitments. The centerpiece was a pledge to reach net zero emissions across its operations by the end of fiscal year 2040, in alignment with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C warming limit. Alongside this, the company set diversity hiring targets for the near term: 35% women among global new hires and 45% underrepresented minorities among U.S. new hires, both by end of fiscal 2021.
CEO Ron Nersesian framed these commitments as inseparable from Keysight's core identity as an enabler of purposeful innovation across clean technology, wellness, and security sectors. The 2040 deadline offers nearly two decades to restructure operations, while the 2021 hiring targets create immediate, public accountability. The framework is now set — and the measuring has already begun.
Keysight Technologies released its 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility Report in May 2021, marking the close of its first major sustainability cycle while simultaneously announcing a more ambitious set of targets for the decade ahead. The company, which generates roughly $4.2 billion in annual revenue and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker KEYS, had spent the previous five years measuring itself against a specific set of environmental and social benchmarks. Now it was time to account for what it had actually achieved.
The results were mixed but largely positive. On the environmental front, Keysight had conserved 18.9 percent of its water consumption since 2015, surpassing its original 15 percent target. Energy conservation, however, fell short. The company managed only 8 percent reduction against a 10 percent goal, a shortfall the company attributed to the pandemic's disruption of planned efficiency projects as resources were redirected toward employee safety and wellbeing. The social impact numbers told a different story. Keysight engaged more than 818,000 students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education—nearly 150,000 more than targeted. The company also committed approximately $1.7 billion in value toward community strengthening through philanthropy, volunteering, and engagement work, exceeding its $1.25 billion goal. On governance, the company reported no material negative impacts to its financial performance or institutional investment levels from corporate responsibility initiatives.
Hamish Gray, Keysight's senior vice president and executive sponsor of the CSR program, framed the achievement as a collective effort. "Every employee had a part to play in this extraordinary achievement in global community impact," he said in a statement accompanying the report. But the company made clear it was not content to rest on these results. As a firm built on innovation and continuous improvement, Keysight announced an entirely new set of targets with considerably higher stakes.
The most significant commitment was a pledge to reach net zero emissions across company operations by the end of fiscal year 2040, aligned with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Alongside this environmental commitment came diversity hiring targets: by the end of fiscal 2021, the company aimed for 35 percent of its global new hires to be women and 45 percent of U.S. new hires to be from underrepresented minority groups—a category defined by California Assembly Bill 979 to include Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
The company also set near-term goals for community and education work. By the end of fiscal 2021, Keysight targeted $250 million in community value commitments and engagement with 75,000 students through STEM education initiatives. Ron Nersesian, Keysight's chairman, president, and CEO, positioned these commitments within a broader corporate philosophy. "Recent societal challenges have highlighted the critical role corporations play in supporting global environmental and social prosperity," he said. Keysight's core business—designing and validating solutions for communications, aerospace, defense, automotive, energy, and semiconductor sectors—positioned the company to enable what it called "purposeful innovations" in clean technology, wellness, safety, and security.
The timing of these announcements reflected a particular moment in corporate America. By 2021, net zero commitments had become increasingly common among large technology firms, yet the specificity of Keysight's targets and the breadth of its diversity goals suggested a company attempting to move beyond rhetorical commitment into measurable action. The 2040 net zero deadline gave the company nearly two decades to restructure its operations, while the immediate hiring targets for 2021 represented concrete near-term accountability. Whether the company would meet these new goals remained to be seen, but the framework was now public and the stakes were clearly defined.
Citações Notáveis
Every employee had a part to play in this extraordinary achievement in global community impact. However, as a company of innovative and critical thinkers focused on continuous improvement, we won't stop here.— Hamish Gray, Keysight senior vice president and executive sponsor of CSR
Recent societal challenges have highlighted the critical role corporations play in supporting global environmental and social prosperity. Keysight is committed to supporting global communities and enabling our customers to deliver innovative breakthroughs that change lives, secure the world and connect people across the globe.— Ron Nersesian, Keysight chairman, president, and CEO
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a company like Keysight—which makes design and testing equipment—care so much about net zero emissions and diversity hiring? What's the connection?
It's partly about the world they're selling into. Their customers are working on clean technology, wireless infrastructure, electric vehicles. If Keysight wants to be credible selling solutions for a sustainable future, they can't be burning carbon at home. But it's also about talent. In engineering and tech, the talent pool is narrower than it should be. If you're only hiring from the same demographic, you're leaving capability on the table.
They exceeded their water conservation goal but missed energy conservation. Why would that happen?
The pandemic. They had plans for energy efficiency projects in 2020—probably facility upgrades, process changes—but when COVID hit, they pulled those resources to focus on keeping employees safe. It's a real trade-off. You can't do everything at once when the world is on fire.
The STEM education number is striking—818,000 students. How does a company actually reach that many kids?
It's not just direct classroom work. It includes partnerships with schools, online resources, competitions, internships, donations to programs. When you're a global company with that kind of reach, the numbers add up quickly. But the real question is whether those 818,000 students actually got something meaningful out of it, or if it's just a touch point.
What does "net zero by 2040" actually mean for a company like this?
It means eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from their operations—facilities, transportation, supply chain—by 2040. They're not saying they'll be carbon neutral through offsets. They're saying they'll actually reduce emissions to zero. That's a 19-year project. It requires rethinking how they manufacture, where they locate facilities, how they power them, how they move products. It's expensive and it's real.
The diversity targets are specific—35 percent women globally, 45 percent underrepresented minorities in the U.S. Are those numbers achievable?
They're ambitious but not impossible if you actually change your recruiting and hiring practices. The question is whether Keysight is willing to do the work—changing job descriptions, expanding where they recruit, training hiring managers. Numbers like that don't happen by accident.