A Letter from Marc B. Lautenbach
President & Chief Executive Officer

Our commitment to responsible business practices strengthens every aspect of Pitney Bowes. Embedded in our culture for nearly 100 years, it continues to drive our relationships with clients, employees, peers and the communities where we operate.

Our shorthand description of this commitment is “doing the right thing, the right way”. And it is central to all we do—whether we’re designing new technologies and services for our clients, driving down our carbon footprint, or supporting the work of employee volunteers helping children and families in their local communities.

The opportunities we face today demand not only our best talents, but our best qualities as human beings. I am proud of the way our company is living up to the challenge of global citizenship. We are truly making a difference for the people we serve, while laying an ever-broader foundation for future growth.

Two recent honours underscore this success. In April 2016, CR Magazine named Pitney Bowes on its 100 Best Corporate Citizens list. And in May, Forbes named us as one of America’s 500 Best Large Employers. Both these awards come on the heels of comparable recognition in other surveys and other countries around the world, including being honoured for a sixth year as one of the Best Companies to Work For in India.

This recognition is particularly gratifying given the degree of transformation we have undergone over the last several years in our technology, organisation and business model. What has clearly not changed—and in fact has strengthened—is our global commitment to living our values and being the best company we can be.

Last year we made significant progress on many fronts. To name a few:

• We reinforced our standing as an environmental leader, meeting a five-year, 15 percent carbon emissions reduction target established in 2012, three years ahead of schedule, and earning a place on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s A list, representing the top 5 percent of all companies disclosing emissions in the organisation’s annual surveys.
• We continued to engage employees and their families in increasing numbers in programmes that help them stay fit—including more than 4,000 participants in 15 countries for our annual “One in a Million” walking campaign.
• We drew more than 2,000 women from 150 universities in India to a six-hour programming hackathon called PB Code Inspire, designed to encourage women to pursue careers in computer science and engineering.
• And we continued to strengthen our philanthropic commitment to literacy and education through the Pitney Bowes Foundation, corporate contributions and employee volunteerism. A highlight of the year was the global expansion of our signature volunteer initiative, Dedication to Education. Between August and November, more than 400 employee volunteers joined forces with 34 organisations in 19 locations to enrich the lives and educational prospects of students and their families. This programme complements our employees’ year-round commitment to tutoring and mentoring students in their local schools.
• Through their many efforts, our employees worldwide contributed 56,000 hours of volunteer service and, through our matching gifts programme, donated $1.7 million in charitable contributions that were matched by the Foundation.

Our culture of corporate responsibility supports our progress at every step—helping us attract and retain a diverse, energised workforce focused on client success; accelerating the flow of innovative solutions; ensuring that our products and facilities meet rigorous functional, environmental and safety standards; and providing a fair, transparent governance infrastructure to keep everyone on track and at their best.

It’s an exciting time to be at Pitney Bowes, drawing on the accumulated wisdom of nearly a century as we build our bridge to the next one—and prepare to cross it. I can’t say enough about how grateful I am for the outstanding efforts of people throughout our company as we continue on this path. Our clients, families and communities depend on how well we do. I look forward to another year of doing even better. 

President and Chief Executive Officer