Block shares soar 24% as block slashes workforce by nearly half
block shares jumped 24% after headlines said the company slashed its workforce by nearly half. The coverage noted layoffs tied to AI and quoted the company’s CEO saying most companies will do the same.
Headlines and timing
Three recent headlines capture the development in clear terms: "Block shares soar 24% as company slashes workforce by nearly half"; "Block lays off nearly half its staff because of AI. Its CEO said most companies will do the same"; and "Mass layoffs: Block slashes staff by 40%, adding to recent Amazon, eBay cuts. " One of those headlines was timestamped 3 hours ago and the other two were timestamped 1 hour ago.
Scale of cuts
The coverage describes the workforce reduction in multiple ways: slashing the workforce by nearly half, laying off nearly half its staff, and a separate figure cited as a 40% staff cut. Those figures appear together in the recent accounts and underline a large, rapid reduction in headcount.
AI cited for layoffs
Reports state the layoffs were tied to AI. The phrasing used in the headlines explicitly says the company "lays off nearly half its staff because of AI. " That connection between staffing decisions and AI featured prominently in the coverage.
Block's workforce change
Market reaction was immediate: shares were described as soaring 24% in the same coverage that detailed the workforce reductions. The juxtaposition of a 24% share rise with the company slashing its workforce by nearly half was central in the recent accounts.
CEO comment and industry context
The company’s CEO was quoted as saying that most companies will do the same, suggesting an expectation that similar workforce moves could spread across other firms. The coverage also linked the staff reduction to a broader wave of cuts by noting that the 40% staff figure was reported as "adding to recent Amazon, eBay cuts, " placing this action alongside other major companies' layoffs.
Sequence of events in the recent coverage: a headline published 3 hours ago highlighted a 24% share jump as the company slashed its workforce by nearly half; shortly after, two headlines published 1 hour ago emphasized layoffs tied to AI, the CEO’s comment that most companies will do the same, and a 40% staff reduction framed as part of broader industry cuts that included Amazon and eBay.
Closing: Recent headlines in the past few hours present a consistent account: a 24% share surge, large-scale layoffs described as nearly half the staff or 40%, AI cited as the driver, a CEO statement forecasting similar moves by other companies, and a context that links the cuts to recent actions by Amazon and eBay.
