WeWork Fires 13 Employees for Violating Company Policy

Gillian Tan , Bloomberg

• This is the first major action since SoftBank Group Corp. took a majority stake in WeWork

• WeWork is also expected to soon dismiss thousands of employees in a bid to cut costs

WeWork said it fired 13 employees accused of violating company policies, the first major action since SoftBank Group Corp. took a majority stake in the troubled co-working business.

The dismissals affected workers in business regions encompassing Canada, Israel, Latin America and the U.S., according to an email to staff from Marcelo Claure, the WeWork chairman and a SoftBank executive, sent late Thursday and reviewed by Bloomberg.

“We recently investigated complaints of abuse of our vendor selection and management processes," Claure wrote. “Upon completion of these investigations, we terminated the employment of 13 employees."

The SoftBank executive said WeWork won’t tolerate behavior that disrespects its people, members or business and asked staff to share concerns through an internal helpline. He assured employees they won’t be “retaliated against for coming forward in good faith."

WeWork is also expected to soon dismiss thousands of employees in a bid to cut costs. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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