In response to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Australia, SGS Economics and Planning is taking action to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of our people and our clients.

We have implemented safeguards that meet official Australian Government guidelines and have taken additional preventative measures to slow the spread of the virus in society.

While we are practising social distancing, we remain more connected than ever. We operate nationally, so our team is well versed in working collaboratively and using the latest technologies. We continue delivering high-quality project work with our clients.

The measures we have in place:

• All SGS team members will be working remotely from Monday 23 March. As part of our Business Continuity Policy, we have a highly secure and robust system in place to support seamless workflow, keep our team connected and files stored securely.
• We have suspended all face-to-face meetings both at our offices and our clients’ offices. Our team members will work with you to use technology such as Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom or other Videoconferencing.
• We have suspended all domestic and international business travel and recommended that our team members do not undertake unnecessary personal travel.
• We recommend that our team members do not attend conferences or other events where a large group of people will gather, even as restrictions begin to lift.

To help, we ask you to:

• Immediately inform us if anyone in your organisation that has had contact with our team is a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.
• Openly communicate with our team and support our efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in society.
• Work with us to continue to deliver our commitments. We don’t want to postpone, or cancel planned activities – we want to explore new ways of working and collaborating.

We will continue to monitor the spread and impact of COVID-19 locally and globally and act on information released by the World Health Organisation, the Australian Federal Government and state governments.

I want to assure you that continuing to deliver the highest quality service with minimal disruption is a priority for us. We have in place proven processes and systems to work as an efficient team during this time. If you have any questions or concerns, I encourage you to get in touch with your project manager or project director. You are also welcome to contact me.

There’s no doubt it will be a challenging time ahead. We’ll continue to focus on our team’s wellbeing, and working effectively with our clients.

Take care of yourself and others.

Alison