Jack Dorsey’s Block to cut nearly half its workforce as it leans on AI

jack dorsey says Block will lay off almost half its staff as the company shifts toward artificial intelligence, cutting headcount from 10, 000 to less than 6, 000 and calling the change a fundamental rethinking of how to build and run a company.

Jack Dorsey frames cuts as an AI-driven restructure

In a letter to shareholders, he wrote, "Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes, " and said Thursday, "I don't think we're early to this realisation. I think most companies are late. " The company has undergone several rounds of layoffs since 2024, but this is the first time Block has cited AI as the reason for redundancies.

Scale of cuts, costs and market reaction

Block, which owns Square, CashApp and Tidal, said the layoffs will reduce headcount from 10, 000 to under 6, 000 and that it will incur up to $500m (£370m) in restructuring costs as it pivots to the new strategy. The firm's financial report showed strong demand for its products and services, pushing up profits at the end of last year, and its shares rose by more than 20% in extended trading after the announcement.

Wider tech industry shake-up: Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Google

The move follows a wave of major job cuts across the tech sector. At the end of January, Amazon laid off 16, 000 employees after earlier cutting 14, 000 roles a few months before, and Brian Olsavsky, Amazon's chief financial officer, said the company was looking at cost reductions elsewhere as it ramps up AI spending. Meta, Microsoft and Google have also laid off workers as they shift focus to big investments in AI.

Executives and tools reshaping how work gets done

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's co-founder and chief executive, said he expects "2026 to be the year that AI dramatically changes the way we work, " adding, "We're starting to see projects that used to take big teams now be accomplished by a single, very talented person. " Most tech companies are using AI tools that can automatically write the computer code required to operate software or websites, including Claude Code from Anthropic or Codex from OpenAI, a development that has prompted fears that AI could overturn the job market.

Debate over the scale and timing of job risk

While automation of long-standing skilled work has raised concerns about employment, some analysts have suggested executives may be exaggerating the immediate threat to jobs to appear ahead of the curve. Block's decision, and Dorsey's view that more change is coming, sits against that debate: he said further AI-driven change in companies is on the way.

Dorsey is a co-founder and former chief executive of Twitter, the online micro-messaging platform that was later bought by Elon Musk and renamed X. Details of the timing for Block's layoffs and the schedule for the restructuring are unclear in the provided context.