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WeWork to cut one-fifth of headcount in restructuring after US$9.5 billion SoftBank rescue

  • The cuts began weeks ago in regions around the world and continued this week in the US, compan says without giving more details

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WeWork logo at the entrance to one of their office spaces in the Soho neighbourhood of New York. Photo: AP
WeWork is slashing almost 20 per cent of its workforce in a restructuring of its money-losing operation after a doomed global stock offering.
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WeWork said it has laid off 2,400 of its approximately 12,500 employees to “create a more efficient organisation,” the company said in a statement Thursday. The cuts began weeks ago in regions around the world and continued this week in the US, it added, without giving more details.

In an email to employees earlier this week, executive chairman Marcelo Claure said jobs would be eliminated in areas that “do not directly support our core business goals,” referring to WeWork’s main office-leasing operations.

Additionally, about 1,000 cleaning and maintenance jobs in the US and Canada are being outsourced to another firm.

The New York-based company is scaling back the explosive growth of co-working spaces in 122 cities around the world while racking up massive losses that ultimately put off Wall Street investors and doomed its plan for an initial public offering.

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WeWork employees embrace on the sidewalk outside its corporate headquarters in Manhattan on November 21, 2019. Photo: Reuters
WeWork employees embrace on the sidewalk outside its corporate headquarters in Manhattan on November 21, 2019. Photo: Reuters
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