BP tells Houston office employees to work remotely as Covid surges

HOUSTON (Bloomberg) --BP Plc told employees at its largest U.S. office to work from home until next month due to rising omicron cases in Texas.

The oil major reopened its sprawling glass-walled campus in west Houston last summer as the first waves of Covid-19 subsided, but its 3,500 employees were asked to return to remote work this week.

“BP continues to monitor Covid-19 rates at national and local levels and are encouraging employees and contractors to work from home until February,” the London-based company said in a statement.

As in most of the U.S., virus case numbers and hospitalizations due to the omicron variant have surged in Texas over the last month, causing worker shortages in industries from education to airlines.

BP began a hybrid work model in the U.S. last year, whereby employees can now average 60% of their time in the office and 40% from home.

Companies worldwide are delaying return-to-office plans as omicron cases remain escalated. Bank of America Corp. pushed back its return to office for staff in the U.S. again, until at least the fourth week of January.