Inside the Rolling Layoffs at Jack Dorsey’s Block

After hundreds of workers were laid disconnected successful aboriginal February from Jack Dorsey’s Block, immoderate of the radical remaining astatine the institution accidental the interior civilization has devolved to a constituent wherever show anxiousness is moving rampant, utilizing generative AI is required, and wide morale is rapidly deteriorating. Block is the genitor institution down the merchant outgo processor Square and the outgo app Cash App. Dorsey cofounded the institution successful 2009 aft antecedently cofounding Twitter.

“Morale is astir apt the worst I’ve felt successful 4 years,” reads an worker ailment submitted to Dorsey successful a caller all-hands meeting, a transcript of which was seen by WIRED. “The overarching civilization astatine Block is crumbling.” WIRED spoke with 7 existent and erstwhile Block employees, who requested anonymity to talk freely astir interior operations astatine the company. A Block spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

The layoffs astatine Block started this period and could yet interaction up to 10 percent of the company's workforce, according to reporting by Bloomberg. Before the headcount reductions began, Block had astir 11,000 radical connected staff. Rather than a one-off event, absorption has dilatory enacted the firings implicit the people of weeks and told employees that the process volition proceed done the extremity of this month, sources archer WIRED.

“We don't yet cognize if our livelihoods volition beryllium affected, and this makes it incredibly hard to marque large beingness choices without knowing if we inactive person a occupation adjacent week,” reads different worker ailment from the aforesaid gathering with Dorsey.

Multiple sources who spoke with WIRED accidental they were appalled erstwhile Arnaud Weber, Block’s engineering lead, sent retired an email aft the archetypal question of layoffs characterizing them arsenic being performance-related alternatively than a cost-saving measure. The sources accidental they disagree with management’s interior messaging astir the firings being merit-based.

“As portion of our 2025 show cycle, we person parted ways with teammates who weren't gathering the expectations of their role,” wrote Weber successful the email, which was viewed by WIRED. “These departures were based connected wide show gaps, relation expectations, and alignment coming retired of calibrations connected the barroom for each level.”

Block employees are presently expected to nonstop an update email to Dorsey each week, who past uses generative AI to summarize the thousands of messages. In the aforesaid all-hands meeting, which took spot aft hundreds of unit had already been fired, Dorsey said that predominant topics cited by workers successful their latest messages included “widespread concerns astir layoffs,” “performance anxiety,” and “the hostility betwixt accelerating transportation done AI adoption versus maintaining codification prime and engineering rigor.”

During the meeting, Dorsey reiterated that the layoffs were made for show reasons, saying that determination was “a sizable information of our colonisation that person been phoning it in.” He besides stressed that the remaining workers should beryllium utilizing generative AI tools to maximize productivity, oregon other Block would hazard being outpaced by its competitors.

“Top-down mandates to usage ample connection models are crazy,” says 1 existent Block employee. “If the instrumentality were good, we’d each conscionable usage it.”