Jack Dorsey has announced that Block will cut nearly half of its workforce, reducing the company from more than 10,000 employees to just under 6,000, in what he described as one of the hardest decisions in its history.
In a note shared publicly, Dorsey said more than 4,000 employees will either be asked to leave or enter consultation. All staff are being notified at the same time. The move affects teams across the company, which operates Square, Cash App and Tidal under the Block umbrella.
Dorsey said the layoffs are not the result of financial distress. According to him, gross profit is growing, the company is serving more customers, and profitability is improving. Instead, he pointed to a shift in how work is being done inside the company, driven by advances in artificial intelligence tools and the move toward smaller, flatter teams.
“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,” Dorsey wrote. He added that the change is accelerating and fundamentally altering what it means to build and run a company.
Block’s chief financial officer, Amrita Ahuja, said the restructuring will allow the company to move faster with smaller teams using AI to automate more tasks. The decision places Block among a growing list of technology companies reshaping their workforce around artificial intelligence.
Dorsey framed the move as a deliberate choice to act quickly rather than reduce headcount gradually. He said he considered cutting jobs in stages over months or years but decided against repeated rounds of layoffs, arguing that they damage morale, focus and trust. “I’d rather take a hard, clear action now,” he wrote, saying the company would build from a position it believes in rather than react slowly to the same outcome.
Employees who are leaving will receive 20 weeks of salary plus one additional week per year of tenure. Equity will vest through the end of May, and U.S.-based staff will receive six months of health care coverage. Departing employees will also be allowed to keep their corporate devices and will receive $5,000 to support their transition. Staff outside the United States will receive similar support adjusted to local regulations.
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Dorsey said communication channels inside the company will remain open through Thursday evening Pacific time so employees can say goodbye and connect. He also plans to host a live video session to address staff directly.
The market reacted strongly to the announcement. Block’s shares rose more than 24% in after-hours trading following the news, signaling investor approval of the cost-cutting plan and the company’s AI-focused direction.
The scale of the reduction recalls other major workforce cuts across the tech sector in recent years. Companies including Amazon and Salesforce have also reduced headcount while citing efficiency gains from AI systems. At the same time, some analysts have questioned how much of the industry’s layoffs are directly tied to AI productivity versus broader financial discipline.
Dorsey has long been vocal about artificial intelligence and digital transformation. In his note, he suggested that many companies will face similar decisions within a year as AI tools become more embedded in daily operations. He argued that a smaller company would give Block room to grow on its own terms rather than constantly respond to external pressures.
The decision carries risk, Dorsey acknowledged. He said the company conducted a full review to determine the roles needed to grow from here and tested those decisions from multiple angles. He also admitted that some choices could prove imperfect and said flexibility has been built into the plan.
To employees who are leaving, Dorsey expressed gratitude and said the decision does not reflect their contributions. To those staying, he said he takes responsibility and asked them to help build a company with intelligence at the center of how it works, creates and serves customers.
Block now enters a new phase, betting that artificial intelligence and leaner teams will define its future. Whether other companies follow at the same scale may depend on how this shift unfolds in the months ahead.
