WeWork Planning Another Round of Layoffs Next Month
By Nicholas Rizzi April 14, 2020 4:12 pm
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Coworking giant WeWork plans to make an additional round of layoffs next month, after it laid off thousands of workers in the past several months, Bloomberg reported.
WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani told staff at a town hall meeting Tuesday, that included executive chairman Marcelo Claure and touched on a myriad of topics, the struggling coworking company will cut more staff at the end of next month, according to Bloomberg. Mathrani declined to provide exact numbers to staff.
“I know there is much speculation about how deep the cuts will be,” Mathrani said at the meeting, according to a recording obtained by Bloomberg. “People are looking for a percentage or a number. The reality is, we’re looking at all of it.”
A spokesman for WeWork confirmed the meeting touched on future job cuts and added that company leadership stressed WeWork’s ability to withstand the coronavirus pandemic.
In November 2019, WeWork — which had a tumultuous 2019 that included a failed initial public offering — laid off 2,400 workers around the world as it tried to cut costs, as Commercial Observer previously reported.
The company quietly laid off additional staff in February and cut another 250 jobs last month, Bloomberg reported.
The flexible workspace market has been reeling as the spread of the novel coronavirus forced most companies around the country to ditch its offices and work remotely. Convene, Industrious and The Wing — which WeWork previously owned a stake in — all laid off staff in recent weeks.
Competitor Knotel, which was crowned a unicorn last year, cut half of its 400 employees and told landlords it planned to give back 20 percent of its 5-million-square-foot portfolio, as CO previously reported.
The coronavirus pandemic has some in the industry fearing it could be the knockout punch for the already struggling WeWork, which is the largest office tenant in Manhattan, while others think if WeWork can survive it will be in a much stronger place since flexible deals will be on more tenants’ minds.
Update: This story was updated to include a statement from WeWork.
