AI vs People Debate Rages as Block Cut 40% of Workforce
The AI job loss debate is picking up pace as fintech company Block lays off 40% of its workforce.
After announcing the 4,000 job losses, CEO Jack Dorsey called it a “difficult decision”, saying intelligence tools “have changed what it means to build and run a company”.
The job cuts come as the company surpasses Wall Street expectations, with fourth quarter gross profit doubling from Q1 capping at US$2.87bn.
The Cash app and Square parent company also saw a 17% year-on-year growth in gross profit which reached US$10.36bn.
“A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better. And intelligence tool capabilities are compounding faster every week,” Jack writes in a letter to shareholders.
The company stocks saw a 20% rise in extended trading following the announcement, as investors banked on the financial results.
Intelligence at Block’s core
Block’s open source AI agent Goose was deployed in October 2025 within the firm which brought eight to 10 hours of productivity per week.
The company, which is part of the Agentic AI Foundation, strongly believes in embedding intelligence at every layer, saving time and boosting operational efficiency.
Product releases across Block's Cash App and Square, shows AI implementation at scale. Square Releases featured AI-powered voice ordering, embedded AI in Square dashboards and Square AI was used to turn customer insights to value-driving action.
Block's marketing campaigns also featured AI-enabled self-onboarding.
“Intelligence will be at the core of how the entire company works,” Jack writes, “How we make decisions, how we build trust and manage risk, how we build products, and how we serve customers.
“We're moving toward a model where our customers can build their own features directly on top of our capabilities.
“That changes the nature of what we are as a company and it dramatically increases the value we can deliver per customer.”
AI-backed restructuring afoot
Block is the latest in the line of major firms that have cut jobs because of AI.
In 2025, around 55,000 tech roles in the US were cut citing AI as a factor, with more than 49,000 jobs already eliminated in the first two months of 2026, as data from Information Week shows.
“I don't think we're early to this realisation. I think most companies are late,” Jack adds.
“Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes.
“I'd rather get there honestly and on our own terms than be forced into it reactively.”
The job cuts mandate major organisational restructuring, which Jack notes will cost between US$450 - US$500m.
The company offered a historic severance package, with 20 weeks base pay and an additional week’s payment depending on year of tenure, US$5000 in transition fund and six month healthcare coverage for those being let go.
Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg echoes Jack’s thoughts: “2026 to be the year that AI dramatically changes the way we work.
"We're starting to see projects that used to take big teams now be accomplished by a single, very talented person.”
Jack's shareholder letter closed with this sentiment: “We believe Block will be significantly more valuable as a smaller, faster, intelligence-native company. Everything we do from here is in service of that.”
