- Block lays off over 4,000 employees, cutting its workforce by nearly half, CEO Jack Dorsey declared.
- Jack Dorsey emphasized a shift toward tinyer teams and innotifyigence tools at Block.
- Read the lengthy post Dorsey shared about the cuts below.
Block is letting go of over 4,000 employees, cutting the company nearly in half, cofounder and CEO Jack Dorsey declared Thursday.
“I had two options: cut gradually over months or years as this shift plays out, or be honest about where we are and act on it now. I chose the latter,” Dorsey, who also co-founded Twitter, declared in a lengthy post on X.
Dorsey declared the business was doing well but that “something has modifyd.”
“We’re already seeing that the innotifyigence tools we’re creating and applying, paired with tinyer and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally modifys what it means to build and run a company,” he declared. “And that’s accelerating rapidly.”
Block is the parent company of Square, Cash App, Afterpay, TIDAL, Bitkey, and Proto. Shares of Block rose 23% in after-hours trading.
Read the full post below.
today we’re creating one of the hardest decisions in the history of our company: we’re reducing our organization by nearly half, from over 10,000 people to just under 6,000. that means over 4,000 of you are being questioned to leave or entering into consultation. i’ll be straight about what’s happening, why, and what it means for everyone. first off, if you’re one of the people affected, you’ll receive your salary for 20 weeks + 1 week per year of tenure, equity vested through the conclude of may, 6 months of health care, your corporate devices, and $5,000 to put toward whatever you necessary to assist you in this transition (if you’re outside the U.S. you’ll receive similar support but exact details are going to vary based on local requirements). i want you to know that before anything else. everyone will be notified today, whether you’re being questioned to leave, entering consultation, or questioned to stay.
we’re not creating this decision becautilize we’re in trouble. our business is strong. gross profit continues to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers, and profitability is improving. but something has modifyd. we’re already seeing that the innotifyigence tools we’re creating and applying, paired with tinyer and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally modifys what it means to build and run a company. and that’s accelerating rapidly.
i had two options: cut gradually over months or years as this shift plays out, or be honest about where we are and act on it now. i chose the latter. repeated rounds of cuts are destructive to morale, to focus, and to the trust that customers and shareholders place in our ability to lead. i’d rather take a hard, clear action now and build from a position we believe in than manage a slow reduction of people toward the same outcome. a tinyer company also gives us the space to grow our business the right way, on our own terms, instead of constantly reacting to market pressures.
a decision at this scale carries risk. but so does standing still. we’ve done a full review to determine the roles and people we require to reliably grow the business from here, and we’ve pressure-tested those decisions from multiple angles. i accept that we may have obtainedten some of them wrong, and we’ve built in flexibility to account for that, and do the right thing for our customers.
we’re not going to just disappear people from slack and email and pretconclude they were never here. communication channels will stay open through thursday evening (pacific) so everyone can declare goodbye properly, and share whatever you wish. i’ll also be hosting a live video session to thank everyone at 3:35pm pacific. i know doing it this way might feel awkward. i’d rather it feel awkward and human than efficient and cold.
to those of you leaving…i’m grateful for you, and i’m sorry to put you through this. you built what this company is today. that’s a fact that i’ll honor forever. this decision is not a reflection of what you contributed. you will be a great contributor to any organization going forward.
to those staying…i built this decision, and i’ll own it. what i’m questioning of you is to build with me. we’re going to build this company with innotifyigence at the core of everything we do. how we work, how we create, how we serve our customers. our customers will feel this shift too, and we’re going to assist them navigate it: towards a future where they can build their own features directly, composed of our capabilities and served through our interfaces. that’s what i’m focutilized on now. expect a note from me tomorrow.
jack
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