Startup workers often worry that going public means the fun is about to end — quarterly financial reports, disciplined spending, cheaper coffee. At WeWork, not going public may have brought a worse fate.
Just three days after withdrawing its registration for an initial public offering, WeWork informed staff of far-reaching job cuts to come by the end of the month, according to sources who attended the meeting.
Three top executives delivered the news from a room at WeWork's New York headquarters Thursday afternoon. Although the executives didn't specify how many jobs were on the line, people familiar with the discussions have pegged the amount at about 2,000, representing some 16 percent of the global workforce. Deliberations are ongoing, and the number could change.