Jack Dorsey Says Block Not 'Replacing Folks With AI' In Letter Explaining 900+ Job Cuts

Fintech Block Inc XYZ is the latest company to announce a series of layoffs with 931 people, or around 8% of the company laid off in the latest round.

Company co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey sent a letter to employees on the latest news. Here's what Dorsey had to say.

What Happened: Dorsey laid out the facts and reasons why the job cuts were happening, while also ensuring employees that jobs were not being replaced by artificial intelligence.

"Today we'll be making some org changes, including eliminating roles and beginning the consultation process in countries where required. I want to give you all the straight facts," Dorsey said in the email, which was obtained by TechCrunch.

Benzinga reached out to Block for comment.

Dorsey laid out the three main areas in his letter being strategy, performance and hierarchy. The letter lays out why some teams are being reduced and how some employees with poor performance were let go.

The job cuts totaled as follows:

Strategy: 391 people
Performance: 460 people
Hierarchy: 80 managers

Block is also closing the majority of its 748 job openings, keeping only some key leadership and critical operational roles open.

"None of the above points are trying to hit a specific financial target, replacing folks with AI, or changing our headcount cap. They are specific to our needs around strategy, raising the bar and acting faster on performance, and flattening our org so we can move faster with less abstraction."

Dorsey said the large number of job cuts was happening at once because the company is "behind in our actions."

"When we know, we should move, and there hasn't been enough movement. We need to move to help us meet and stay ahead of the transformational moment our industry is in."

Why It's Important: Dorsey said his job is to increase the value of the company.

"We believe this will help us focus and execute better to do just that," Dorsey said.

Dorsey called the job cuts the "toughest part" of his job.

The Block co-founder said he's open to direct feedback and encouraged employees to email him if there are areas the company could do better.

"Thank you to all those leaving us. I am grateful and appreciative for you and your work, which has built us up to this point. We will continue to honor that by increasing our value to our customers, and therefore to all of our shareholders, including you."

Block previously cut around 1,000 jobs in January 2024. At the end of 2024, the company had around 11,300 employees.

While Dorsey likely never meant for his letter to reach the public, the words dig into the reasoning behind the cuts and the company’s efforts to play catch-up in some areas if it feels it is behind.

XYZ Price Action: Block stock is down 1.6% to $60.32 on Wednesday versus a 52-week trading range of $53.54 to $99.26. Block stock is down 29% year-to-date in 2025.

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