WeWork is being hit with layoffs today, according to CNBC, marking the latest downturn in the wake of the company’s disastrous attempted IPO.
Layoffs have been rumored for months
The outlet reported that WeWork is letting 2,400 employees go. Layoffs at the company have been rumored for months. In September, The Information reported that executives considered laying off as much as one-third of the company’s workforce, or around 5,000 employees.
The layoffs are only the latest moment in a precipitous fall for WeWork, which at one point this year, was valued at $50 billion, but it has since become a symbol of corporate mismanagement. Facing questions about its leadership and business plan, WeWork postponed a planned IPO earlier this year, and it has faced intense public scrutiny in the months since.
Much of the focus has been on former CEO Adam Neumann, whose leadership became a major source of worry for investors. Neumann stepped down in September, receiving a $1.7 billion exit package in the process.
In October, SoftBank, which is already the largest investor of WeWork, announced that it would buy 80 percent of the struggling company. In an attempt to right the ship, WeWork said earlier this month that it would get rid of its “non-core” businesses, which included a digital marketing platform and wave pool technology business.
Anticipating layoffs, WeWork employees announced their intention to unionize this month. “Thousands of us will be laid off in the upcoming weeks,” the employees wrote in a letter to management. “But we want our time here to have meant something.”