Jack Dorsey nukes 40% of Blocks staff because AI
Dorsey says he had two options: do this in an orderly manner without putting the business at risk, or FULL SPEED AHEAD AND DAMN THE TORPEDOES. Jack chose the torpedoes.
A tweet from Jack Dorsey informs his staff and the world that while the company is profitable and growing, he feels the need to let 40% of the 10,000 workers go because AI will replace them sooner or later.
Rather than make the shift smoothly, Dorsey seems to be doing some sort of rip off the bandaid act to a business that wasn’t wounded. The severance package sounds pretty good, but I am shocked to hear the price of the stock went up on this announcement, which sounds more like reckless management than educated decision-making.
Block’s stock jumped as much as 21% after trading opened on Friday.
The cuts are the latest case of workforce reductions across fintech and the broader technology sector, in which companies have pointed to AI as a catalyst, with companies from Amazon Inc. to Salesforce Inc. citing the technology as justification for shrinking headcounts.
Block offered little granular detail on exactly how its AI tools are making specific roles unnecessary, and some analysts have questioned whether companies are genuinely being transformed by AI or simply using it as a convenient rationale for cost cuts they would have made anyway.
Dorsey says he had two options: do this in an orderly manner without putting the business at risk, or FULL SPEED AHEAD AND DAMN THE TORPEDOS. Jack chose the torpedoes.
I'm a rare survivor of the Block purge. Morale is worse than you can possibly imagine. None of our direct leads knew this was coming, multiple teams gutted or eradicated with no idea how the work can continue.