Block’s AI-fueled layoffs are a stark reminder of how little protection even the most future-facing roles have in today’s tech economy—and how quickly the ground can shift beneath the people building that future.
On Thursday, Jack Dorsey, CEO and founder of Block—parent company of Square and Cash App—announced plans to cut more than 4,000 jobs, roughly 40% of the workforce, reducing headcount from over 10,000 to just under 6,000 as part of a sweeping restructuring. Dorsey tied the cuts directly to efficiency gains from the company’s AI rollout, Fortune reported.
“We’re already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company,” he wrote in a post on X.
The announcement, delivered just ahead of Block’s earnings report, sent shares up more than 20% in after-hours trading. In a Thursday note, Morningstar Senior Equity Analyst Brett Horn wrote that Block’s fourth-quarter growth accelerated meaningfully and that management’s 2026 guidance calls for material margin improvement as the company dramatically lowers its headcount. He maintained an $83 fair value estimate.
