"Two Days a Week at Home"... UK BP Introduces Permanent Remote Work, First in Oil Industry

Working from Home Two Days a Week
Restructuring Accelerates Amid Consecutive Profit Declines

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] British oil company BP has announced its plan to permanently implement a remote work system. Analysts suggest that BP, which has suffered profitability hits due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of renewable energy, is embarking on full-scale restructuring, including reducing office costs.

According to The Guardian on the 8th (local time), BP announced that it will permanently implement a new work system where more than 25,000 office employees worldwide work remotely two days out of five. The system is expected to be implemented as early as this summer.

A BP representative stated, "This is the result of recognizing the value of collaboration between remote work and office work," adding, "We expect it to be a more flexible and dynamic working method."

Meanwhile, BP's profitability significantly deteriorated as oil prices plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to BP, in its Q4 earnings report, it recorded an operating loss of $5.7 billion (6.5 trillion KRW) last year, a sharp increase in losses compared to the operating profit of $10 billion (11.42 trillion KRW) the previous year.

In response, BP has initiated various restructuring measures such as layoffs and office sales. Last year, it announced plans to sell its UK headquarters building, liquidate building assets worldwide, and lay off about 10,000 employees, accounting for 15% of its total workforce. The Guardian evaluated, "BP is expected to reduce its building assets by half due to these measures," calling it "the largest restructuring in BP's 111-year history."

BP also announced plans to actively adopt low-carbon policies in line with the transition to a renewable energy society. Bernard Looney, CEO who took office in February last year, expressed in a statement shortly after his appointment, "We will make BP a carbon-neutral company by 2050," and declared, "We will pursue the most groundbreaking business reorganization in BP's history."

The permanent introduction of the remote work system announced on this day is also seen as part of these restructuring measures. The Guardian commented, "The introduction of remote work is expected to significantly reduce office maintenance costs," and evaluated, "CEO Looney's BP transformation strategy has officially begun."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.