WeWork is outsourcing its cleaning staff to real estate giant JLL
- WeWork is outsourcing its facilities staff to real estate services company JLL, according to a Monday memo reviewed by Business Insider.
- Starting on December 9, the affected cleaning teams will be part of JLL or one of the company's partners.
- It's a reversal of co-CEO Artie Minson's 2015 decision to cut WeWork's outsourcing contracts.
- While this round of outsourcing was months in the making, the news comes as WeWork looks to cut costs in other areas, including thousands of job cuts.
- For more stories about WeWork, click here.
WeWork's cleaning staff will have another employer in a month.
The beleaguered office company is outsourcing its US and Canada facilities staff to real estate services giant JLL, per a Monday memo to employees reviewed by Business Insider.
Starting on December 9, the affected cleaning teams will be part of JLL or one of the company's partners. It's unclear how many staff members are affected by the change.
A representative for WeWork declined to comment, and JLL did not respond to a request for comment.
Employees advocate for clarity
Every member of the US and Canada cleaning, pantry, and facilities teams will be offered a job with JLL or one of its partners, the memo said. The job changes are effective on December 9. Pay will remain the same, and shifts will not immediately change.
"When making this decision, we kept our employees' success top of mind. JLL is an industry expert that will help us provide a more consistent experience for our members, strong leadership for our teams, and career development opportunities for the employees that join their organization," the memo said.
The staff shift, which was announced to employees earlier this month, comes as the office company looks to cut costs in a number of areas following a bailout from SoftBank. Major layoffs are coming, and executives are selling non-core businesses and winding down projects like elementary school WeGrow.
Arik Benzino, the US, Canada, and Israel "CWeO" - WeWork's title for country manager - told cleaning and facilities employees in an email earlier this month that WeWork has been looking at outsourcing for nearly a year.
"We're undertaking it because we believe it will fundamentally improve the experience of our team and our members," he said in the email.
WeWork brought cleaning staff in-house in 2015, which current co-CEO Artie Minson said at the time helped improve the customer experience.
Now, WeWork employees have been advocating for cleaners, asking chairman Marcelo Claure to "prioritize the wellbeing" of staff, Business Insider earlier reported.
Employees also started a Slack channel to organize and sent a letter to management under the name "The WeWorkers Coalition" last week.
That letter, signed by hundreds, highlighted the need for more communication about the fate of the cleaners, among other asks.
"We will also need clarity around the contracts our cleaning staff will be required to sign in order to keep their jobs, which are being outsourced to a third party," the email said.
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