WeWork divests 5 non-core businesses as part of turnaround plan

Coworking aggregator giant, WeWork, looks to shake off five of its business partners, including online community event organizer, Meetup.

WeWork says it will divest from several side businesses and cut jobs as part of a 90-day plan to turn itself around following its botched attempt to sell stock on Wall Street.

The office-sharing company will divest from five non-core businesses, including Meetup, the online community event organizer that WeWork bought in 2017, according to a newly released presentation first shared privately with investors in October. It will also sell its stake in women's co-working company The Wing.

An unspecified number of job cuts will target administrative employees, those working in growth-related positions and those at ventures the company expects to scale back. Layoffs will not include "community teams" based within its shared office sites.

The document shows WeWork was still working to grow rapidly as its initial public stock offering unraveled in September, a crisis that left the company on the brink of bankruptcy and forced the ouster of Co-Founder Adam Neumann.

In the third quarter of 2019, WeWork added a record 108,000 desks at newly built shared offices, leaving it now with substantially more space to fill even as it pursues a painful restructuring. The newly added desks led to a slight dip in its average occupancy rate to 80%, compared to 83% the previous quarter.

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