BP has told 25,000 office-based staff that they will be expected to work from home for two days a week as part of a post-pandemic shift to flexible working patterns. The global oil company introduced the new hybrid model of working to staff last month, and expects the 60-40 split between office and home working to take effect from this summer as Covid-19 restrictions begin to ease. The company said it recognises the value of in-person collaboration and remote work, and hopes that the mix will offer individuals and teams a more “flexible, engaging and dynamic” way of working. The hybrid working approach will extend across BP’s global network of offices and is expected to affect 6,000 staff in the UK, including more than 2,000 in central London. The working pattern overhaul, which was first reported by the Times, is part of a major modernisation programme for the 111-year old oil company under the leadership of Bernard Looney, who took over as chief executive in February last year with a promise to become a “net zero carbon” company by 2050. The Guardian revealed last summer that BP planned to radically reduce its working spaces by embracing remote working and flexible workplace layouts in the wake of the pandemic and heavy staff cuts. BP had a 70,000-strong workforce across 79 countries at the end of 2019. It revealed plans last year to cut its workforce by 15%, representing 10,000 jobs mostly from office-based roles. A spokesman for BP said the company’s teams, individuals and managers would “together work out where and how they will best work, and when they come together in the office”. The company will be “changing and reconfiguring” its offices over time, to support collaboration and create more flexible environments to hold meetings and share ideas, the spokesman added. “Some roles will require people to be in the office or their prime location every day, and some roles will require greater travel or connecting digitally with colleagues, with less time in the office. There may also be some colleagues who prefer working in the office more,” he said. The downsizing plan includes the sale of its London headquarters at St James’s Square. Late last year BP confirmed the £250m sale to the Hong Kong investment fund Lifestyle international. BP will lease the building back for up to two years before moving out.