In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which acclimated many workers to at-home or hybrid work models, French drugmaker Sanofi concluded that the traditional office paradigm was on its way out.
Now, following efforts by the company to modernize its workspaces in France and beyond, nearly 2,000 employees have moved on up to Sanofi’s new flagship U.S. offices in New Jersey.
Sanofi formally cut the ribbon at its new offices in Morristown, New Jersey, on Thursday at an event attended by CEO Paul Hudson and Garden State Gov. Phil Murphy.
The drugmaker invested $130 million in the new facility, which features flexible workspaces, wellness rooms, a public-facing restaurant and “the largest outdoor terrace space in New Jersey” spread across some 260,000 square feet, Sanofi said in a press release.
“Our people are our biggest asset and providing them with a cutting-edge workplace experience is key to help them thrive and do their best work,” Hudson said in a statement. “These flagship offices are designed to inspire creativity, collaboration and innovation—all in service of patients.”
As with many of Sanofi’s recent infrastructure projects, the new Morristown office has been designed with the company’s ecological footprint in mind. Employees will be able to use fully subsidized public transportation, including Wi-Fi-connected shuttles and on-site chargers for electric vehicles. The building itself has been designed to use less energy and water and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions versus standard office spaces, Sanofi added.
Sanofi first announced plans to pivot from its prior site in Bridgewater, New Jersey, to Morristown in early 2023, noting that the project was the latest stop on a global campaign to modernize the company’s workspaces.
At the time, the company pitched the move as a response to new ways of working that gained traction during the COVID pandemic. With many employees displaying an affinity for hybrid and at-home work, Sanofi said it wanted to keep its physical offices relevant.
The drugmaker has since “coordinated [its] exit from the Bridgewater site with the landlord there,” a Sanofi spokesperson told Fierce Pharma over email. While Thursday marked the official opening of the new offices, the company has been operating out of Morristown since late March, the spokesperson added.
Along Sanofi’s workplace renovation spree, the company has also relocated to a new headquarters in Paris—dubbed La Maison Sanofi—that’s also designed with hybrid work in mind.
Back in the U.S., Sanofi in 2022 moved into a massive new campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that boasts many of the same design philosophies as the Paris and Morristown sites.