How WeWork India crafts one of the country’s most inclusive employee health plans

We begin with a slight digression. When we built the coworking spaces section on our Starter Guides to Indian cities, we were careful to select only the ones with the highest ratings. One particular brand transcended all metros – Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. 
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No points for guessing which one.  
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Today, WeWork India is one of the country’s most successful coworking spaces. The company has been profitable since 2021, with office spaces spanning 8,000,000+ square feet in 57 locations across 8 cities. WeWork workspaces are known for their inclusive features (gender-neutral restrooms, feeding rooms etc), thoughtful design, and startup friendly offerings through WeWork Labs.
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WeWork’s a great place to work – not just for their customers, but their employees too. 

Building a great place to work. 

WeWork India employees love working there. 96% of employees are proud to be working there, and core to this is their approach to building an inclusive workplace. 
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In the words of Priti Shetty, their Chief People and Culture officer. To Priti, diversity and inclusion isn’t a target or an initiative, but something that is ingrained into everything that the company does. 
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Focusing solely on diversity and overlooking inclusion is a common mistake that companies make. Diversity alone does not suffice if team members do not feel valued and included. It is crucial to assess how a candidate's values align with the company's values and create an inclusive culture that celebrates individual differences.

- Priti Shetty

Core to this is their approach to benefits. 

The BTS of WeWork India’s benefits stack

WeWork India came to Plum with two objectives. The primary objective was to build a policy that’s equitable, holistic, and inclusive. When we received the brief, we wanted to do justice to their vision with our consultative approach. 

Three highlights from our benchmarking process. 
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The best of three worlds. 

WeWork wanted a policy that put them in the 99th percentile of their industry. The only challenge? They operated in three separate industries – hospitality, real estate, and SaaS. 
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This meant our team of consultants had to analyse over 100 benefits offered by the best companies in each industry. 
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The benefit: WeWork India offer benefits offered by the top one percentile companies, like coverage for oral chemotherapy, psychiatric and psychosomatic ailments, and differently abled children over 25 years. 
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Insights from past claims and adoption data

Understanding adoption and claims raised over the last year helps companies understand what benefits to double down on, and what to trim.  
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The benefit: Despite the median sum insured being INR 5,00,000, WeWork increased it to INR 6,00,000 because there had been instances where the total claims amount had come close to the latter. 
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A policy with gender equity at its core. 

WeWork India’s is known for building inclusion from the ground up. 47% of the workforce are women (40% in leadership) – which meant their benefits needed to reflect their commitment to gender equity. 
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The benefit: With Plum, WeWork India offers the best benefits for women – including INR 1,50,000 for maternity coverage, infertility treatments (Invitro and Intrauterine fertilization), feeding care expenses, pre and post hospitalization cover, and more. 
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Last year a fracture payout was at 30% because of a sub-limit. This year that limit was expanded – an exception which wouldn’t have been possible without the Plum team’s intervention.

- Gowri Sridhar

But the best benefits don’t matter if the experience is broken 

WeWork’s second priority was to give their employees a hassle-free, app-first claims experience – so much that the leadership team tested the app and product before rolling it out to the rest of the organization. 
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The trial was promising, making them advocates of the app-first experience – what’s not to love about no WhatsApp, or email hassles, and a team that responds in real-time? 
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The difference is dramatic. We’ve seen reimbursement claims that have been stuck for over six months – and now with Plum, everything is settled within a week. With cashless, discharge is sometimes possible within 20 minutes. It’s unheard of.”

– Gowri Sridhar

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With Plum, Wework India combines the best of digital features with in-person health interventions to ensure a comprehensive health experience. 

Over the last two years of our partnership, WeWork has had next to nil major escalations. 

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What makes WeWork’s policy the best?

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When we published the State of Employee Benefits 2024, we observed that there was a small section of companies who had gone above and beyond with their investment in employee benefits. These companies were not only matching global standards, but also taking the fight to top global companies setting up in India. 

With their benefits in the top five percentile, WeWork India are a proud card-carrying member of this exclusive collection of employers.

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Not only has WeWork raised the bar for other companies, they’ve also pushed us to build more inclusive and equitable healthcare solutions.

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At Plum, we have a long journey ahead in making our products truly inclusive. We have taken these insights to heart and are committed to making our health insurance products more inclusive and accessible. Working with companies like WeWork India and leaders like Priti help us raise the bar when it comes to viewing benefits through the lens of inclusion and equity.

- Saurabh Arora, CTO and co-founder at Plum.

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At Plum, our mission is to positively impact the health and financial well-being of every Indian through companies that care. We’re extremely proud to be working with companies like WeWork India, who understand that employee benefits are a long-term investment in their people, and not an item to tick off a checklist.