Biopharmaceutical company Bayer officially opened its brand new multi-million centralized office in the Philippines last Nov. 23 as it commemorates 60 years of promoting health and nutrition in the country.
Bayer’s P750-million worth of workspace investment is located at Science Hub Tower 1 at McKinley Hill Cyberpark in Taguig.
“We are celebrating our 60th year with a P750-million new office investment from where we will continue to deliver our innovative products, solutions, and services for Filipino farmers, patients, and consumers,” Bayer Philippines managing director and country division head for pharmaceuticals Angel Michael Evangelista said during the media launch.
“This is in line with Bayer’s vision of ‘Health for All, Hunger for None’,” Evangelista noted, adding that Manila is a “key location” for Bayer’s Global Business Services (GBS) which supports its business operations worldwide.
According to Bayer, GBS Manila is the largest site by headcount among a network of seven sites across the globe, bringing the total number of its employees in the Philippines to over 1,800.
The four-level hybrid workplace also houses the central operations of its Crop Science, Pharmaceuticals, and Consumer Health divisions, enabling functions into one single location.
Ernst Coppens, managing director and chief operating officer (COO) of Bayer in ASEAN, said that this is the biggest office project of Bayer in the region, noting that the Philippines is also the base for the Consumer Health business in Southeast Asia.
“Since Bayer started the global transformation program in 2021, over 70 projects at Bayer sites are adopting the next normal office concept. Coming out of the pandemic, five out of six main offices in ASEAN have completed this transformation,” Coppens said.
Flexible, collaborative, and inclusive hybrid working spaces
As a life science company and a global leader in healthcare and nutrition, Bayer said it is reshaping the conventional office model into a “dynamic space enabling hybrid work while prioritizing collaboration and employee wellbeing.”
Previously located in three locations in Metro Manila and Laguna, the new Bayer office in the Philippines is designed around Bayer’s Next Normal Office Concept (NNOC).
With a spacious and co-work-style space, the office features a variety of formal and informal work areas with sit-to-stand ergonomic desks and chairs, stationary bike desks, stand-alone pods for individual calls or virtual meetings, and huddle spaces for quick group catch-ups.
To help its employees easily collaborate with colleagues globally, the life science firm also put up meeting rooms of various sizes that feature state-of-the-art video conferencing equipment.
As Bayer fosters an inclusive and diverse workforce and culture, the new integrated office has a multi-faith room, deaf-friendly safety alarms, braille on key signages, a mother’s room for nursing moms situated on two out of four floors, and gender-neutral toilets located on all floors.
Employees can also enjoy recreational facilities such as chess, air hockey, foosball, and sub-soccer tables located along employee locker hallways or in the Work Cafe, a dedicated game room and nap areas, plus a gym with free fitness classes.
Bayer Kubo program
In terms of addressing sustainability challenges around agriculture and health, the biopharmaceutical company is also running its flagship Bayer Kubo corporate social engagement program that supports smallholder women farmers and their communities on topics such as self-care and improved agricultural practices.
In August, Bayer Philippines signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST) to run this program.
“With the growing role of women in Philippine agriculture, who are often challenged to care for both the home and the field, we’re supporting women farmers, farmers’ wives, their families, and the community through various initiatives around health, wellness, and sustainable agricultural practices,” Evangelista said.
The program aims to empower over 100 women farmers to be carried out in Cabanbanan in Manaoag, Pangasinan.
It will combine health and agriculture to train additional 1,500 community members on the best practices of family planning, farmer self-care, and nutrition, as well as agriculture-oriented financial management.
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In 2021, the Bayer Group comprised 374 consolidated companies in 83 countries.