What’s Next for WeWork After Massive Layoffs
WeWork employees reflect on layoffs, while the beleaguered startup hires a 77-year-old adman to fix its brand image
As Marker reported last week, WeWork employees have been stuck in a state of purgatory for months as the troubled co-working space company weighed massive layoffs. Deliverance, if you can call it that, finally came on Thursday when the company laid off nearly 2,400 employees globally. Staffers affected by the job cuts discovered mysterious invitations on their calendars, inviting them to meet with HR representatives in a conference room, and to please bring along any company-owned devices like laptops or mobile phones.
This move was “necessary” in the words of WeWork’s newly installed chairman, Marcelo Claure, to “right-size” the co-working business, which had grown dramatically in the run-up to an anticipated initial public offering that fell apart in September.
Following the scuttled IPO and the abrupt departure of founder and CEO Adam Neumann, the company’s financial position has appeared to be precarious. WeWork reported losses of $1.2 billion in the third quarter, and the company reportedly required an infusion of $6.5 billion from SoftBank, one of its major investors, to stabilize its finances. (All in, SoftBank has poured…
