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- Nearly a dozen of WeWork’s top human resources officials have left the company in the last year or are in the process of leaving, The Information reported.
- At least five more left between 2015 and last year, including the chief HR officer, whom WeWork hasn’t yet permanently replaced, according to the report.
- News of the departures comes as WeWork has been on a hiring binge and is preparing for a planned initial public offering.
- Read all of Business Insider’s WeWork coverage here.
Even as WeWork is gearing up for an initial public offering and hiring slews of new people, it’s having trouble retaining its top human resources managers, The Information reported on Tuesday.
Over the last year, nearly a dozen HR managers have left or are in the process of leaving the company, including the department’s interim head, the senior director of talent acquisition, and the head of people strategy, according to the report. Additionally, at least five top human-resources officials left the company between 2015 and last year, including the company’s permanent chief HR officer, The Information reported. The company has been searching off and on for a new full-time chief HR officer since last year, but has been unable to fill the position, according to the report.
A WeWork representative did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Most of the HR managers who left the company did so voluntarily, according to The Information, but several reported disagreements or clashes with CEO Adam Neumann or Jen Berrent, WeWork’s co-president and chief legal officer. Neumann has criticized employees behind their backs, describing some as "B players," the outlet reported.
Additionally, at least two former HR officials have filed sexual harassment claims against the company, according to the report. One, Lisa Bridges, claimed in her suit that the company ignored a study she put together that found that 94% of all equity awards worth $1 million or more went to men.
WeWork has been on a hiring spree of late. At the end of June, it had 12,500 employees, according to the paperwork it recently made public in advance of its planned initial public offering. That was up 4,000 at the beginning of last year, according to The Information. Human resources departments typically oversee the process of hiring and integrating new workers.
As it prepares to go public, WeWork has been facing increasing scrutiny over its business and management. The company is dominated by Neumann, who has engaged in a series of transactions and moves that have raised eyebrows among analysts and potential investors.
Read more about the HR departures at The Information.
Got a tip about WeWork or another company? Contact this reporter via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @troywolv, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.
- Read more about WeWork’s IPO:
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- WeWork wants investors to think of it as a tech company. These 5 slides illustrate how its numbers tell a different story.
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See Also:
- WeWork reportedly gave 94% of stock awards worth $1 million or more to men, according to an internal study
- Here’s how WeWork answered the 5 biggest questions about its business — and why analysts are still worried about its upcoming IPO
- Why WeWork’s $47 billion private valuation could be a key stumbling block for its IPO — and might even derail it completely
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Source: Business Insider – twolverton@businessinsider.com (Troy Wolverton)