WeWork said on Thursday it is laying off around 2,400 employees globally, as the office-sharing company seeks to drastically cut costs and stabilize its business after it transformed from a Wall Street darling into a pariah in a matter of weeks.
The long-anticipated layoffs are the biggest move yet by Japanese technology investment company SoftBank Group Corp., which is providing a $9.5 billion lifeline and will soon own about 80 percent of its shares, to make sure WeWork refocuses on its core business and on trying to make money.
Under co-founder and ex-CEO Adam Neumann, WeWork had become bloated, was diversifying into all kinds of areas — including setting up a school and running apartment buildings — and was expanding at a breakneck speed without any clear route to profitability.