WeWork Says It is at Risk for Bankruptcy. Has Co-Working Died?

WeWork has warned that it is at risk of bankruptcy after posting a net loss of nearly $700 million in the first six months of this year and recording $10.7 billion in net losses over the previous three years. The company has become a cautionary tale on how not to nurture an emerging business model, but its falling fortunes do beg the question of whether co-working can survive in a post-pandemic world. After all, one argument the company has been making since 2020 is that the emergence of remote and hybrid work would strengthen its business model as more people sought to escape their home offices and as companies took advantage of WeWork’s flexibility to avoid signing long-term leases.  

For WeWork that hasn’t been the case: it reported that more customers than anticipated had left while fewer new members joined, causing its occupancy rate to drop in the second quarter.