Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Prime Therapeutics will only use its new Eagan headquarters as a collboration space when employees return. Photo: Prime Therapeutics
Prime Therapeutics has unveiled a post-COVID-19 strategy for how its employees will work in the future. It could be a sign that big corporations won't need nearly as much office space as they did before.
Driving the news: The company said late last week it will use a "hub and home" hybrid model in which employees will use their home offices for individual work and then go into the company's Eagan headquarters for collaboration and socialization.
State of play: Prime Therapeutics, a pharmacy benefits manager, employs around 2,200 people in the Twin Cities. It recently finished a 400,000 square foot office in Eagan in 2018 and 2019.
Context: Last summer the company polled its employees and found that 93% of them were OK or better working from home, but that two-thirds wanted to also spend time at the office.
What's new: Under the hub and home strategy, most local employees will continue working from home 50% to 65% of the time, with their teams meeting in the office on certain days of the week or month.
- There will be no more assigned desks at the building, Kim Gibson, assistant vice president of real estate and facilities, told Nick. Instead, rooms will have movable furniture so different teams can reconfigure the space.
- "What we're learning is that employees really want to do most of their focus work at home and when they come into the office they want to meet with their teams," Gibson said. "So having dedicated stations and offices really doesn't serve that kind of a model in the future."
The bigger picture: With employees only coming in about a third of the time, Prime Therapeutics only needs about two-thirds of the office space it had required previously.
- The company has decided not to renew its lease for 180,000 square feet at Bloomington's Normandale Lake Office Park, where about 700 employees had worked.
The bottom line: A hybrid model with less need for space is not a great sign for a Twin Cities office market that already had a 20% vacancy rate.
- If other companies follow a similar model — and many have said they're switching to a hybrid model — there could be more even more vacancies as leases expire.
This story first appeared in the Axios Twin Cities newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard.