WeWork is slashing the lavish spending
that fueled the office-sharing company’s
breakneck growth and contributed to
unsustainable losses that ultimately turned
off Wall Street investors, forcing it to shelve its
initial public offering.
Shannon Wilkinson, CEO of a small online
reputation management firm, says her clients
rave about the vibe at her WeWork in midtown
Manhattan, where visitors walk into a loft-
like space with cozy leather couches and a
large sign reading “fortune favors the brave.”
Floor-to-ceiling windows offer views of a
neighborhood known as billionaire’s row, but
Wilkinson pays just $95 a month for a basic
WeWork membership.
“Despite WeWork’s bad rap in the markets right
now, it is very convenient, and I believe it will
stick around a long time,” Wilkinson said.
Not far away, though, Lanny Grossman doesn’t
get the same vibe from the WeWork near Grand
Central station, where the owner of public
relations firm EM50 Communications shares a
two-person office.
Emptier than other WeWorks just blocks away,
the space is sometimes dark because too few
people show up to trigger enough automatic
lighting sensors, he said. At some point, the
grab-and-go market disappeared. Recently,
Grossman has noticed a slowdown in cleaning,
with dirty coffee mugs still there the next day.
WeWork says there has been no change
to cleaning schedules at that location, but
Grossman said the issues have deepened his
skepticism about the future of his landlord.