The Coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated already-shrinking margins for energy producers. Especially for oil and gas companies, reduced demand and increased costs related to pandemic response initiatives require companies to identify new efficiencies to keep their business sustainable.
The results are transformative. Specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in new workplace arrangements, as companies adjust to a hybrid workforce that now includes remote and distributed teams.
In this environment, scaling remote operations capacity is a veritable necessity. Unfortunately, most organizations are not prepared for this transition. The Washington Post estimates that 90% of companies lacked adequate remote operations infrastructure to maintain continuity.
In response, the industry needs to rapidly scale its remote operations capacity. Not only do more workers than ever before want to work from home, even after the pandemic subsides, but energy producers will rely on this technology to drive new efficiencies at a critical time. As a McKinsey & Company report on the energy industry during the COVID-19 pandemic notes, “the measures companies previously took to protect the well-being of workers and maintain operational efficiency may no longer be good enough.”
In other words, this moment is as much a challenge as it is an opportunity. Remote operations capacity isn’t just critical today. It will play a central role in the sector’s long-term transformation. Here’s how.