WeWork is getting rid of free beer and wine on tap in its North American offices — marking a huge culture shift for the coworking company.
Instead of beer and wine, WeWork will offer other drinks like kombucha. The switch is expected to increase costs by up to 20% per member, a person with knowledge of the change said.
WeWork offices have long been known for having the free booze, though in 2018 the company changed its policy so the booze was no longer unlimited.
The company plans to phase out beer and wine taps across all North American locations by the end of February. The move applies to both WeWork's member and employee locations. The company will continue to serve alcoholic beverages at on-site happy hours, however.
WeWork's planned 2019 public debut imploded in part because of its wide losses and what investors saw as an unclear path to profitability.
Now it's been trying to get on track following the failed IPO and a bailout from SoftBank.
Following big layoffs in November, SoftBank-installed chairman Marcelo Claure laid out six "pillars" for WeWork as it moves forward, including member and customer experience, selling new products, and operating with a "cash-conscious-owner mentality." The company has also been cutting and selling non-core businesses.
The changes in beverage choices came on the heels of a member survey conducted last year that called for more beverage options.
"As part of our commitment to providing our members with an exceptional workplace experience, WeWork has expanded our on-tap beverage offerings at our U.S. and Canada locations to better meet our members' preferences. Data from an expanded member satisfaction survey we conducted last year indicated many of our members wanted a greater variety of beverage options, and we are pleased to roll out these expanded offerings, including a selection of cold brew, kombucha, seltzer and cold teas, in response. As part of this beverage refresh, WeWork will also phase out on-tap alcoholic beverages in U.S. and Canada locations and aims to complete this process by the end of February," a company spokesperson told Business Insider.
The flexible-office space company has had a tumultuous relationship with alcohol; Business Insider quoted one former employee as saying that "WeWork feels like a never-ending party." Co-founder and ousted CEO Adam Neumann had a well-publicized affinity for Don Julio 1942, and Business Insider reporting heard many reports of booze-soaked WeWork corporate retreats and parties.
The office company came in under target for adding desks with big businesses in 2019, according to data obtained by Business Insider that we published last week.
"While we fell short in Q4, you never gave up," one executive wrote to employees in communications reviewed by Business Insider.
WeWork added a total of 253,000 new desks through the third quarter of 2019, compared with 140,000 over the same time period in 2018, per investor documents reviewed by Business Insider. The company did not break out how many of those desks were for enterprise customers.
Another fourth-quarter metric indicates a future slowdown in WeWork's activity. Per real estate company CBRE, WeWork signed just four new US leases with landlords in the fourth quarter. Those leases represented a 93% drop from an average of 2.54 million square feet leased over the previous four quarters.
Real estate data is notoriously opaque; data from another major real estate company, JLL, says that WeWork had no new leases in the fourth quarter.
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