WeWork ($PRIVATE:WEWORK), is, by just about every measure, in chaos. Ousted CEO Adam Neuman is walking away with $1.7 billion, its valuation is taking a hit almost daily, and today, employees were told that massive layoffs are, indeed coming.

"Are there going to be layoffs? Yes." WeWork's new executive chair Marcelo Claure told employees in an all-hands at its New York headquarters on Wednesday morning according to a report from Recode. "How many? I don't know."

Rumors are that layoffs could affect as many as 4,000 of WeWork's 15,000 employees. Other estimates come in below that. WeWork is reportedly awaiting funds from investor SoftBank in order to be able to deliver severance packages.

But one thing is for sure: WeWork is in a serious contraction phase as it looks to finds it way in a storm of re-valuations and Wall Street corrections regarding how valuable the workspace sharing company really is.

As the company preps severance packages, it's also putting the brakes on hiring new talent.

In July, WeWork was hiring for 1,590 positions. Today, it lists just 573 openings on its recruiting website(s). That's a hiring activity drop of 64%.

While layoffs haven't launched at scale just yet, company growth via workforce size has plateaued. As of this week, 12,100 people list WeWork as their employer on LinkedIn. That number was 12,200 on October 15, signaling the first sign of workforce size stagnation at the company since its inception.

Indeed, workforce growth pace has slowed in the past quarter, from 15.65% growth at the end of the summer to 11% as of this week.

About the Data: 

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

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