WeWork set to lay off thousands amid company turmoil: report

WeWork is set to lay off at least 4,000 employees from across its workforce and could do so as early as this week, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

WeWork’s main business of subletting office space would lay off 2,000 to 2,500 employees, a source told the news outlet, while an additional 1,000 employees will leave as the company sells off or closes other businesses. Another 1,000 employees in building maintenance will reportedly be transferred to an outside contractor. 

The combined layoffs amount to roughly a third of the company’s 12,500-person workforce that it employed at the end of June.

{mosads}A source told the Times that the layoffs could rise to as many as 5,000 to 6,000 WeWork employees.

The move comes as the company struggles to limit losses after it attempted to go public, which it ultimately decided against. The office-sharing firm’s initial public offering was put on hold amid questions over the company’s value and corporate governance.

The employee layoffs are part of a five-year plan to overhaul WeWork that could be presented to staff as early as Tuesday, according to the Times.

Japan’s Softbank Group Corp, which has invested in the We Company, WeWork’s parent company, announced a plan last month to bail out the struggling company.

WeWork reported last week that it lost 1.25 billion in the last quarter, more than double what the company lost in the same period in the previous year.