INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WeWork could lay off thousands of employees as the company tries to recover from a disastrous attempt to go public.About 4,000 employees
could leave WeWork through a combination of layoffs, divestitures of the company's ancillary businesses and transfers to a contractor,
according to a person familiar with the matter
That means WeWork could lose about a third of the 12,500-person head count it had in June according to a company filing.WeWork executive
chairman Marcelo Claure told employees that layoffs would begin this week, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post
Claure said the layoffs would be "difficult" but necessary to create "more efficient, more focused and even more customer-centric
organization."In a year of disappointing tech IPOs, WeWork stood out for its meteoric rise and fall before the company ever went public
WeWork was valued at $47 billion in January, according to Pitchbook
Last month, SoftBank announced a $9.5 billion deal to take control of WeWork.WeWork's spectacular combustion has become a cautionary tale
from a summer of underwhelming IPOs, particularly when it comes to job creation and employee wealth
Uber, which went public in May and has seen stock price fall by about 36% since becoming publicly traded, has laid off about a thousand
employees in recent months.Tech firms have long been criticized for generating a smaller number of jobs than traditional corporate giants as
firms automate more tasks and create technology to replace humans, despite their huge streams of revenue.Still, some have been critical of
WeWork's marketing of itself as a tech startup at all, instead saying it's closer to a real estate company - and should have always been
valued that way.The company's core business is converting leased buildings into co-working spaces that offer perks such as yoga classes
Earlier this year it created a parent company called We Co
and expanded into apartment rentals, data analytics and education
It filed publicly for an IPO in August.The plans to go public disintegrated after investors questioned the company's valuation as well as
the leadership of former CEO Adam Neumann
Neumann stepped down as CEO in September and was replaced by two co-CEOs: Artie Minson, formerly the company's co-president and chief
financial officer; and Sebastian Gunningham, who was vice chairman.Without the infusion of Softbank cash last month, WeWork would have run
Neumann became a board observer and was given an exit package worth as much as $1.2 billion
The company's board obtained control of his voting shares.The news of the job cuts was reported earlier by The New York Times, which said
WeWork's plan involved laying off 2,000 to 2,500 people from the company's core real estate business
Another 1,000 employees would leave as the company sells or closes its other businesses including a private school, and 1,000 building
maintenance workers would be transferred to a contractor, The Times reported.WeWork declined to comment on the number of layoffs.WeWork,
like other "unicorn" startups including Uber, Lyft and Slack, was one of the many companies investors and employees hoped would generate
wealth on the public markets this year
The debuts were especially crucial for tech workers, for whom stock is typically a major component of total compensation, and who have fewer
opportunities to sell their shares.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published
from a syndicated feed.)Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world on TheIndianSubcontinent.com
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