Welcome home: Payworks opens new Winnipeg Head Office

Five years + 8.3 million kilograms of concrete + 75 kilometres of data cables + one basketball hoop + over 350 very excited Winnipeg-based employees…

What does this equal (other than the very best kind of math)? The answer is: Payworks’ brand new Head Office, which officially opened on October 3, 2024!

Photo: Payworks Co-Founder Barb Gamey cutting the ribbon, held by Chief Operating Officer Michael Penman and President & CEO JP Perron, to mark the official Grand Opening of Payworks Way.

Located on the eponymous Payworks Way in Winnipeg’s South Pointe neighbourhood, we’re thrilled to welcome our Head Office employees home to this new space as we round the corner into the organization’s 25^th anniversary year.

Standing at 94,000 square feet on eight acres, our new Head Office is driven by Payworks’ continued growth trajectory and our commitment to providing staff with an engaging and inspiring space in which to collaborate and create. This new building provides almost double the space for our Winnipeg employees – a team that’s more than doubled to over 350 in the past six years (and makes up over half of our national workforce).

Photo: Payworks’ new Head Office stands at 94,000 square feet and houses over 350 employees (and counting!).

“Flexibility is the name of the game now – whether it’s in how the space is used, how people gather, or how employees work most effectively,” says Barb Gamey, Payworks Co-Founder. “Now more than ever, our team likes to work and connect in all sorts of different ways, and we’re really pleased to offer a space that meets those varying needs.”

Included among the many highly-skilled, cross-disciplinary departments that have found a home here are our flourishing Design and Development teams. With its local education opportunities and evolving technology sector, Winnipeg (and our new building) is the perfect place for us to envision, create and perfect the workforce management solutions we offer to over 40,000 clients from coast to coast while living our purpose of “doing right by people.”

“I’m so glad to be in the new building – I’m loving all the natural light, and of course the covered parking on the rainy days we’ve been having!” shares Connor Bean, Development Tech Lead. “There are so many great spaces to get together with your team, whether for work or otherwise. The lounges are great places to chat and play games.”

Photo: Connor and other members of the Development team putting their heads together in one of the “Dev collab” spaces.

Excitement among all staff was high throughout the summer after they were invited to take an exclusive peek into the almost-finished space back in June. Employees began moving to Payworks Way in waves from early summer onwards, and we officially bade farewell to our previous Head Office on Willson Place (just a 10 minute drive down the road) by the end of August.

Since then, we’ve made ourselves right at home: taking advantage of the many meeting spaces named after Winnipeg landmarks – there’s even one called Windsor Park, named for the neighbourhood in which Barb grew up – battling through departmental ping-pong tournaments in our Level 2 lounge (looking at you, Marketing…), and digging into our United Way Winnipeg workplace campaign kickoff pancake breakfast.

Photo: Two members of our United Way Employee Committee served up breakfast and smiles at our September 2024 United Way Winnipeg workplace campaign kickoff in the Level 1 lunchroom (which seats almost 100 and is our largest gathering space!).

“My first impression of Payworks Way was that it was so spacious – and there were so many coffee stations!” laughs Ashley Mysak, Small Business Team Leader. “I appreciate all the collab spaces – between the meeting rooms and the phone booths, it’s so easy to find space to have a one-on-one – and love the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Level 3 and 4 lounges. I’ve been sitting out on the balcony when the weather has allowed for it, and am really looking forward to enjoying lunch outside on a beautiful day next summer.”

“What I’m enjoying at Payworks Way compared to our old space: more meeting rooms, more parking and of course the light!” says Marlene Drake, Product Manager. “I love how bright it is and the great view from my office. I don’t even like to work from home anymore – I prefer to be in the office five days a week.”

Photo: A few members of the Head Office team shaking the rust off their basketball skills on our new sport court.

Curious to explore it for yourself? Hear from Barb on how our team, in partnership with MMP Architects and Akman Construction, brought this beautiful new “home away from home” to life: