How do you fit 1,000 more workers into downtown office buildings without constructing new space or adding onto existing structures?

If you’re Principal Financial Group Inc., you do away with cubicles and reconfigure your offices into space-efficient “workplaces of the future.”

Representatives from Principal joined Gov. Chet Culver and Iowa Department of Economic Development officials this morning in announcing plans by the financial services company to hire an additional 1,500 employees within the next five years. The project also calls for building a new 1,800-space parking garage and a child-care center adjacent to its Z-shaped corporate building on Seventh and Park streets, on space that’s now a surface parking lot.

Principal plans to invest approximately $103 million in the project, which includes the cost of building the child-care center and parking ramp. The majority of the money, $65 million, will be spent on the office reconfigurations and new furniture for current and future employees.

“Traditionally, Principal has had cubicle configurations that grow in size based on the stature of the employee,” said company spokeswoman Rhonda Clark-Leyda. “We’re moving away from that, and one of the benefits will be more space.” The concept has already been tested in several pilot locations in its downtown offices, she said.

Approximately 300 of the new hires will work for the company’s Principal Global Investors division, with the remainder spread across several of the company’s other business units, Clark-Leyda said. About 500 existing employees will be relocated to Principal’s Des Moines office complex at 6200 Park Ave., she said.

Principal will receive an estimated $2.67 million in Enterprise Zone tax credits from the state, provided the expansion creates at least 840 new positions that pay an average wage of $23.45 per hour. Clark-Leyda said the majority of these higher-paid employees will be hired by Principal Global Investors. Most of the other positions will be a variety of customer service and account management jobs that will require education and experience ranging from a high school diploma and two years of experience to a bachelor’s degree and eight years of experience.

With the expansion, Principal will employ approximately 10,000 people at its downtown office complex and about 11,500 at all of its Central Iowa offices.