WeWork to lay off 4,000 Workers in a Bid to Achieve Financial Stability After Failed IPO

At least 4,000 people are set to be laid off work by WeWork from its workforce, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

WeWork is expected to announce the cuts as early as this week as it is recovering from major losses after a failed IPO in September this according to The Times.

The Times was told by a person with knowledge of the matter that the company’s core office-sharing business would slash 2,000 to 2,500 employees from its global ventures. The source added that around 1,000 employees from noncore businesses will exit the embattled real estate startup and 1,000 maintenance workers will be transferred to an outside contractor.

According to The Times, this exodus represents roughly a third of the company’s 12,500 employees. A second source with knowledge of the matter said the number of layoffs could be as high as 5,000 or 6,000.

The sources said, the announcement will be part of the company’s five-year plan to completely overhaul the business recovering from the brink of bankruptcy. They added, the announcement could be presented to staff as early as Tuesday.

A spokesperson for WeWork declined to comment on the report.

WeWork received a $10 billion bailout which took control of the company in October after it failed to go public from Japanese investment firm Softbank. Softbank also gave CEO and cofounder Adam Neumann $1.7 billion to step down from his position as chairman of the board at WeWork.

WeWork said it lost $1.25 billion in the third quarter last week.

While injecting money into WeWork, Softbank also took a massive hit in the July to September period losing a record $6.46 billion.