Inside the Rolling Layoffs at Jack Dorsey’s Block: AI Mandates, Performance Claims and Crumbling Morale
Hundreds of workers were laid off in early February at Jack Dorsey’s Block, and remaining employees say internal culture has deteriorated sharply: performance anxiety is widespread, the use of generative AI is being mandated, and overall morale is rapidly declining.
Scope of the layoffs and workforce context
The layoffs began this month and are not being treated as a single event. Management has enacted firings slowly over the course of weeks and told employees the process will continue through the end of this month. Before these reductions began, Block had around 11, 000 people on staff; the cuts could eventually impact up to 10 percent of the company’s workforce. A spokesperson for Block did not respond to requests for comment.
Employee reports: morale, anxiety and uncertainty
Employees who remain describe a workplace suffering heightened performance anxiety and low morale. One complaint submitted in a recent all-hands meeting said morale was the worst the writer had felt in four years. Another employee message in that same meeting said uncertainty about job security made it difficult to make major life decisions because people did not know if their livelihoods would be affected.
Jack Dorsey pushes AI mandate amid rolling layoffs
Workers are now expected to send an update email to Jack Dorsey every week. Dorsey uses generative AI to summarize the thousands of messages. In the all-hands meeting that followed the initial wave of cuts, he noted frequent topics in those messages included "widespread concerns about layoffs, " "performance anxiety, " and "the tension between accelerating delivery through AI adoption versus maintaining code quality and engineering rigor. " He reiterated that the layoffs were made for performance reasons and said there was "a sizable portion of our population that have been phoning it in. " He also urged remaining employees to use generative AI tools to maximize productivity, warning that Block could be outpaced by competitors otherwise.
Internal pushback over management messaging and performance rationale
Multiple employees expressed shock after Arnaud Weber, Block’s engineering lead, sent an email following the initial wave of layoffs that framed the departures as performance-related rather than cost-saving. Weber’s message referenced the 2025 performance cycle and stated the company had parted ways with teammates who were not meeting role expectations, citing clear performance gaps and calibrations on the bar for each level. Those who oppose that framing say management’s messaging mischaracterizes the firings.
AI adoption mandate and frontline reactions
Mandates to adopt generative AI tools are drawing criticism from some staff. One current employee called top-down requirements to use large language models "crazy, " arguing that if the tools were effective, workers would use them without being forced. The tension between forced AI adoption to boost delivery and concerns about engineering rigor and code quality was a recurring theme in employee communications and the all-hands meeting.
Company background and broader implications
Block, the parent company of the merchant payment processor Square and the Cash App payment service, was co-founded by Dorsey in 2009 after he had previously co-founded another major social platform. The combination of rolling layoffs, mandatory AI summaries of employee updates, and contested claims that cuts are performance-related has created an internal environment employees describe as deteriorating. Seven current and former Block employees who requested anonymity spoke with recent coverage about internal operations and workplace sentiment. A transcript of the all-hands meeting was seen by recent coverage as well.
As the company continues its phased reductions through the end of this month, the immediate outlook for employee morale and internal cohesion appears fragile. Details may evolve as the process continues and additional internal communication unfolds.
