BP's employment figures 2011-2020

BP employed some 63,600 people as of December 31, 2020. BP’s number of employees has dropped considerably since 2012, when the company had 86,400 employees. Between 2019 and 2020, the United Kingdom-based oil supermajor reduced its workforce by roughly 6,500 people, following market restraints induced by the coronavirus pandemic.

BP: a global employer

Of BP’s three business segments, most people worked in Downstream, at 41,300 full-time employees. The Upstream department is the second largest, with 13,700 employees, and thirdly, BP’s Corporate and other businesses segment employs 8,600 people. These people are employed throughout the world, as BP produces oil in every continent (excluding Antarctica). BP’s drop of over 13,000 employees since 2012 is partly due to a restructuring plan put in place in 2015 as a result of falling oil prices. Prior to the falling oil prices, BP had already began downsizing following the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that began in April 2010. The coronavirus pandemic is also likely to quicken the company's push in reducing its exploration business and delve into the alternative energy industry.

Employment within the global oil and gas industry

Although BP employs a large number of people, compared to other major global oil and gas companies it doesn’t even rank among the top ten. The largest oil and gas companies worldwide by employment are state-owned businesses such as Russia's Gazprom and China's PetroChina.