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It’s no secret that WeWork, the brain child of disgraced businessman Adam Neumann, has been plagued by the ghosts of its former controversies. Behind the company’s initial façade of success hid a toxic leadership culture that plagued employees, including some extremely morally questionable actions undertaken by Neumann.
Topping the long list of allegations made against the firm include sexual harassment lawsuits, a culture of encouraged binge drinking, extreme mishandling of company assets, a culture of fear and a history of random, and sometimes mass, firings. In fact, so infamous is the company’s story, that it was recently made into a TV series in which Neumann was played by none other than Jared Leto.
However, the enduring firm is still very much in operation. Its core concept – co-working spaces for businesses or entrepreneurs who need a hot desk – is one that very much aligns with the needs of a post-covid workforce. And, under new and far less controversial leadership (new CEO Sandeep Mathrani, previously a real estate mogul, took over in February of 2020), the company seems to be somewhat stable.
Now, with some space between its past and the collective consciousness of those whom the concept may appeal, the Mathrani-led WeWork is looking to corner the market when it comes to modern workplace management, and appeal to HR in the process. This comes in the form of a new HR-centric software product, which according to reports from Bloomberg, it now hopes to sell to businesses.
The new software, which is reportedly going to be called WeWork Workplace, will let HR manage their employees and their office space the same way WeWork does. It can be used for tasks such as booking conference rooms, coordinating flexible desk usage with hybrid workers and analyzing which spaces are used the most. One of the most potentially useful tools in a post-covid workplace, will allow companies to see the ‘flow of employees through the office, to assess high-traffic areas and spaces that are under-utilised.
"As we began to launch WeWork Workplace, we saw an incredible opportunity to accelerate the growth and capabilities of our product,” Scott Morey, President of WeWork Technology and Innovation, this week told Yahoo. “WeWork [has] the ability to build a scalable end-to-end solution for powering the future of work. This underscores the importance of delivering holistic solutions that can cater to every type of strategy," he added.
The software is reportedly set to debut this summer, however will HR leaders be able to look past the sordid history of the company to take a chance on next-generation workplace software? This remains to be seen.
