Office-sharing startup WeWork India lays off 20% of workforce as COVID-19 lockdowns weigh; eyes to be profitable by early 2021

In October last year, WeWork India’s chief shareholder Jitu Virwani had said the company would be profitable by end of 2020.

|May 19, 2020, 16:28:04 IST

Bengaluru: WeWork’s India franchise said on Tuesday it laid off 100 employees, or 20 percent of its workforce, as the office-sharing startup joins a slew of firms that are cutting costs and revamping operations as a prolonged nationwide lockdown to curb the coronavirus has kept people indoors.[caption id="attachment_8383891" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. News18[/caption]A number of Indian startups, including restaurant aggregator Zomato and food delivery service Swiggy, have cut down their employees, as they reshape their business in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced 1.3 billion Indians indoors and crippled business.“We have optimised and planned our team strength based on the core business, as we continue to execute our long-term business strategy in India and aim to be profitable by early 2021,” said Karan Virwani, chief executive at WeWork India, set up by real estate firm Embassy Group over 2 years ago.In October last year, WeWork India’s chief shareholder Jitu Virwani had said the company would be profitable by end of 2020.Softbank Group Corp has poured in more than $13.5 billion into New York-based WeWork.

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