WeWork Stats: Members, Locations, Financials (2023)

WeWork is the leading global flexible workspace provider, serving small and large businesses with office space across 756 locations in 38 countries.

The company gained mainstream media attention after failing to go public in 2019 amid criticisms over leadership and the company’s ability to turn a profit. WeWork finally had its IPO in October 2021 with a $9 billion valuation, less than the $12.8 billion it had raised since 2010.

In this article, we will take a deeper look at how WeWork has grown, the revenue it generates, as well as other company statistics:

• WeWork Number of Members
• WeWork Number of Locations
• WeWork Number of Employees
• WeWork Revenue
• WeWork Expenses
• WeWork Net Profit
• WeWork Market Share

Key WeWork Stats

• WeWork's core space-as-a-service business has grown from 23 locations in 2014 to 756 sites by the end of 2021.
• Despite generating over $2.5 billion in revenue in 2021, the company had a net loss of over $4.6 billion.
• In January 2019, private investors valued the company at $47 billion, or 7x higher than its market cap of $6.7 billion in January 2022.

How Many Members Does WeWork Have?

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, WeWork experienced fast growth in memberships and office locations. The company scaled back slightly in 2020 and 2021 as the need for office space decreased with more employees working from home.

Despite the setback, WeWork currently serves over 590,000 members. From 2017 to 2021, WeWork increased its number of members by 3.37x.

Here is a table of WeWork membership growth:

Year	Number of Members
2017	175,000
2018	400,000
2019	600,000
2020	600,000
2021	590,000

Source: Statista

How Many WeWork Locations Are There?

The number of WeWork’s locations rapidly expanded from 275 in 2017 to 850 in 2019, then tapered off slightly in 2020 and 2021. Despite the pandemic slowdown, WeWork has still seen a 2.75x increase in locations from 2017 to 2021.

Here is a breakdown of WeWork location growth:

Year	Number of Locations
2017	275
2018	518
2019	850
2020	792
2021	756

Source: WeWork

How Many Employees Does WeWork Have?

WeWork currently has 4,400 employees.

Although the company provided no specific figures, it did mention on its 2019 prospectus that it had employed more than 12,500 people in June of that year. We calculate that the company has seen at least a 65% workforce reduction from its high point in 2019.

The global pandemic played a critical role in the company's decision to reduce its workforce. The company has stated they expect to grow more slowly now than before the pandemic as it tries to streamline operations and become profitable.

Source: SEC

WeWork Revenue

WeWork generates revenue by offering space-as-a-service to people looking for office space. The company provides its members a flexible range of workspace commitments, from monthly subscriptions to multi-year agreements. In addition to office space, members get access to phone booths, internet connectivity, printers, mail handling, front desk services, and more to support their business needs.

The company expanded revenue consistently from 2017 to 2019, then faced massive headwinds due to the Covid-19 pandemic, seeing a reduction in total revenue in 2020 and 2021. Revenue in 2021 was $2.57B.

Here is a table of WeWork revenue by year:

Year	Total Revenue
2017	$886,000,000
2018	$1,820,000,000
2019	$3,459,000,000
2020	$3,416,000,000
2021	$2,570,000,000

Source: WeWork, Crunchbase

WeWork has been expanding its product offerings in recent years. In 2020, it launched WeWork All Access, a monthly subscription for members to access all participating company locations worldwide. With this service, members can book spaces from their phones.

In a post-pandemic environment, the company recognized the need for flexible and hybrid work environments, launching WeWork Workplace, a workspace management application that lets employers book workspaces, conference rooms, desks, and more.

The company states that it is hopeful its new products will gain traction and that they will provide new revenue streams.

WeWork Expenses

WeWork’s total expenses amounted to nearly $6.3 billion in 2021, a 3.4x increase from 2017. Expenses increased as the company leased more and more properties to serve its growing customer base. In 2021 we can see a slight pullback in expenses as WeWork cut back on its number of locations and staff due to pandemic-related causes.

Here is a table showing WeWork total expenses by year.

Year	Total Expenses
2017	$1,819,000,000
2018	$3,720,000,000
2019	$7,378,000,000
2020	$7,763,000,000
2021	$6,268,000,000

Sources: WeWork, SEC1, SEC2

Most of WeWork’s expenses come from two categories, location operating expenses and selling, general, and administrative expenses.

Location Operating Expenses

WeWork’s largest expense comes from the costs of leasing and operating properties that it subleases to members to generate revenue. From 2017 to 2021, WeWork’s location operating expenses increased 3.8x. In 2021, location operating expenses accounted for 49% of the company’s total expenses.

Here is a table WeWork's location operating expenses by year:

Year	Location Operating Expenses
2017	$815,000,000
2018	$1,492,000,000
2019	$2,758,000,000
2020	$3,543,000,000
2021	$3,085,000,000

Source: WeWork

Selling, General & Administrative Expenses

Selling, general, and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee stock-based compensation, technology, consulting, legal, sales and marketing, and advertising costs. In 2021, selling, general, and administrative costs amounted to 16% of the company's total expenses.

Here is a table of WeWork's SG&A expenses:

Year	SG&A Expenses
2017	$708,000,000
2018	$1,350,000,000
2019	$2,794,000,000
2020	$1,605,000,000
2021	$1,011,000,000

Source: WeWork

Other Expenses

In addition to location operating expenses and selling, general and administrative expenses, 35% of the company's total expenses in 2021 come from the following categories:

• Pre-opening location expenses: $159 million, 2.5% of total expenses.
• Restructuring and other related costs: $434 million, 6.9% of total expenses.
• Impairment of goodwill, intangibles, and other assets: $870 million, 13.9% of total expenses.
• Depreciation and amortization: $709 million, 11.3%.

Here’s a breakdown of the company’s expense categories (rounded) in 2021:

Expense Category	Share of Total Expenses
Location Operations	49%
SG&A	16%
Goodwill	14%
Deprec. & Amort.	11%
Restructuring	7%
Location Pre-Opening	3%

Source: WeWork

WeWork Net Profit

WeWork is not profitable. The company had a net loss of $4.6 billion in 2021. The company needs to drastically reduce costs and achieve higher occupancy rates in its facilities to become profitable.

Here is a table of WeWork net profit (loss).

Year	Net Profit
2017	-$933,000,000
2018	-$1,900,000,000
2019	-$3,775,000,000
2020	-$3,834,000,000
2021	-$4,632,000,000

Source: WeWork

After WeWork’s failed IPO in 2019, doubt lingered about whether the company would ever become profitable, in addition to concerns around founder and then CEO Adam Neumann’s ability to lead the company. Neumann resigned in September 2019.

After Neumann's departure, Sandeep Mathrani took the helm and is still WeWork’s CEO. Mathrani believes that the company's plan to streamline operations will help it reach profitability. Time will tell if his predictions come true.

WeWork Market Share

According to Statista, WeWork held 1.7% of the worldwide market share of serviced office space in 2019. WeWork is the second largest provider of serviced office space in the world. Regus, WeWork’s biggest competitor, captured 11% of the worldwide market share in the same category.

Here is a table comparing WeWork market share to its competitors:

Company	Worldwide Market Share
Other	86.00%
Regus	11.00%
WeWork	1.70%
Breather Inc.	0.70%
Knotel	0.33%
Servcorp	0.33%

Source: Statisa

WeWork is known for having a more relaxed, casual, and community-driven vibe, whereas the Regus brand conveys formality and a focus on privacy.

Conclusion

That’s our WeWork statistical round-up.

As the world's second-largest provider of leasable office space, WeWork is a massive company that experienced rapid growth before the global pandemic and struggled to achieve profitability, which forced the company to cut back.

Time will tell what the future has for WeWork. We will see if the company can reach profitability in the coming years and if it will be able to capture a more significant portion of the worldwide serviced office space in the post-pandemic world.