Nine months after going public, WeWork Inc. is hoping to boost its drooping share price by joining the growing number of technology companies selling apps, data tools, and other software to landlords and office tenants trying to adjust to the new world of hybrid workplaces.
The shared-workplace operator in July officially launched a service named WeWork Workplace, which includes the software tools that WeWork has been using to power its scores of locations. For the first time, WeWork is now offering these tools to all tenants regardless of WeWork membership.
WeWork executives say Workplace will help businesses lure workers back to offices by giving their employees an app with which they can do such things as book a conference room, post a company announcement or register for a yoga class.
Scott Morey, WeWork’s President of technology and innovation. That sea change in the workplace has created challenges that require digital solutions, he said.
In the early stages of the pandemic, tech companies raced to help businesses cope with health, safety and telecommunication systems as employees shifted almost overnight to working from home.
More recently, tech companies have been trying to help businesses and landlords deal with the slow reopening of traditional workplaces. Most businesses have adopted hybrid strategies combining office work and remote work that have required management teams to rethink conference rooms, design, security, scheduling, food, air quality, and other office needs.
Honeywell, meanwhile, has tried to capture market share with software such as People Counting, a tool that analyzes video from security cameras to keep a real-time log of how many people go in and out of the office.