WeWork is planning to cut as many as 4,000 jobs as part of an aggressive turnround plan put in place by Japan’s SoftBank after it took control of the co-working business this week.
The job cuts will amount to just under 30 per cent of WeWork’s global workforce of around 14,000 people, according to people with direct knowledge of its plans. About 1,000 of the cuts will hit employees such as cleaners, which WeWork is looking to move to an outsourcing company.
WeWork is also looking to prioritise three markets — the US, Europe and Japan — and will pull back from other regions including China, India and much of Latin America. It has already begun looking at building closures in parts of its portfolio including in China and other regions.