Biopharma companies have had a wide range of stances on how they approach post-pandemic office operations. Among the most willing to change to a hybrid model has been GSK.
After saying last fall that it was radically downsizing its space in North Carolina, GSK is now announcing that it has reconfigured its Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, which is on the outskirts of Toronto. The company has been based here for more than three decades.
GSK's announcement did not make clear if the changes come with a downsizing of space. The company did not respond by press time to a request for more details.
The move is part of GSK’s Performance With Choice initiative, which allows employees the flexibility to dictate where, when and how they will work. Employees played a key role in the Missisauga redesign, voting for what they wanted in their new digs.
A consistent theme from employee input was sustainability. GSK followed through with LED lighting with occupancy timers, water reduction features and consolidated areas to encourage conscious disposal of waste.
In addition to space where employees can collaborate, there are areas for them to socialize and unwind. Facilities have been set aside for fitness, with structured workouts available in person and remote. There also is a self-serve food stand as well as a personalized meal delivery service.
Wellness rooms will give employees quiet spaces, which can be used in a variety of ways including meditation, lactation and nurse visits, as well as for ceremonial and religious functions.
“We learned a lot during the pandemic about new ways of working. We also learned from our employees what they want from an office,” Faris El Refaie, president and GM of GSK Canada, said in a release. “We know that the office and face-to-face interactions play an important role in accelerating innovation, collaboration, learning, sharing and celebration.”
Interactive whiteboards will allow workers to brainstorm in person or virtually. As for individual workspaces, employees can choose an environment that suits them best—from focus rooms that facilitate quiet concentration to collaborative spaces with movable furniture to ergonomic workstations where employees can sit, stand or even stimulate their thoughts on a treadmill.
Last fall, GSK said that it decrease its North Carolina space, moving from a 562,000 square foot campus in Research Triangle Park to a 68,000 square foot space in downtown Durham. A similar reduction in GSK’s space will also happen at the company’s site in Philadelphia.
Industrywide, biopharma companies shifted their working models during the pandemic, adopting a hybrid of in-person and remote work. Last year, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said he expected the combination of in-office and at-home work will persist after the pandemic.
“We’ll be looking I think to adjust our overall footprint and then invest where appropriate,” Narasimhan said.