Bitcoin pioneer Jack Dorsey wants 50% staff cut to feel “awkwardly human” as AI-era reset begins at Block
Block shares jumped greater than 20% in premarket buying and selling after CEO Jack Dorsey informed staff the corporate will cut greater than 4,000 roles and reorganize round an “AI-era” working mannequin.
The discount takes Block from greater than 10,000 staff to just below 6,000 (“almost half,” in Dorsey’s wording), whereas the corporate’s 8-K describes a “Workforce Plan” that can scale back headcount by greater than 40%.
Dorsey pitches “AI-era” reset as traders weigh price cuts and development targets
Block reported 10,205 full-time staff worldwide as of Dec. 31, 2025, in its annual filing. The firm expects $450 million to $500 million in expenses tied to the plan, with many of the expenses recorded within the first quarter of fiscal 2026 and the plan considerably full by the tip of the second quarter.
Investors additionally responded to what Block paired with the cuts: a forward-looking framework that requires $12.2 billion in gross revenue in 2026, up 18% yr over yr, and $3.2 billion in adjusted working earnings, a 26% margin.
That same letter places 2025 gross revenue at $10.36 billion, up 17% yr over yr, and fourth-quarter gross revenue at $2.87 billion, up 24%, with Cash App at $1.83 billion and Square at $993 million. In buying and selling, Block closed at $54.53, traded close to $69 after hours, and gained greater than 20% in premarket motion.
Dorsey’s internal message (shared publicly on X) tried to set a unique tone for the way the corporate executes the discount. He wrote that the method might feel “awkward and human” reasonably than “environment friendly and chilly,” and he stated the corporate would maintain channels open so coworkers can say goodbye.
I’ll even be internet hosting a dwell video session to thank everybody at 3:35pm pacific. I do know doing it this manner may feel awkward. I’d reasonably it feel awkward and human than environment friendly and chilly.
To these of you leaving…i’m grateful for you, and that i’m sorry to put you thru this.
The similar memo laid out severance phrases that embrace 20 weeks of pay plus one further week for every year of tenure, continued fairness vesting by means of the tip of May, six months of well being care, permission to maintain firm gadgets, and $5,000 in transition help, with variations exterior the U.S.
| Item | Metric | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Headcount baseline | 10,205 full-time staff (Dec. 31, 2025) | 10-K |
| Workforce plan scale | 10,000+ to just below 6,000 (“almost half”); “greater than 40%” in submitting | 8-K |
| Estimated expenses, timing | $450M–$500M, largely Q1 FY2026; considerably full by finish of Q2 FY2026 | 8-K |
| 2026 targets | $12.2B gross revenue; $3.2B adjusted working earnings (26% margin) | Shareholder letter |
| Severance phrases (headline) | 20 weeks + 1 week per yr; fairness by means of finish of May; 6 months well being protection; $5,000 help | Jack |
The submitting’s cost vary additionally gives a fast examine of the size of the restructuring past severance.
Dividing $450 million to $500 million by roughly 4,000 impacted roles yields about $112,000 to $125,000 per position, a mixed determine that may embrace money prices, advantages, and different objects mirrored in restructuring accounting.
What the restructuring indicators about Block’s price self-discipline and AI pivot
Block can also be asking the market to take its “intelligence-native” framing as an execution plan, not a theme. In its shareholder letter, the corporate described “intelligence” as a part of the way it decides, manages threat, builds merchandise, and serves clients, and it pointed to “proactive intelligence” efforts and Cash App testing that features Moneybot.
The wager embedded within the inventory transfer is {that a} smaller workforce can preserve product velocity and controls whereas the fee construction resets towards the corporate’s 2026 margin objective, with the subsequent one to two quarters serving as the primary take a look at window as expenses land and groups reorganize.
The layoff framing additionally lands in a labor-market dataset the place corporations more and more cite AI alongside restructuring. Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported 108,435 U.S. job cuts in January 2026, up 118% from a yr earlier, and stated AI was cited for 7,624 cuts, about 7% of the month’s whole, per its January 2026 report.
The agency additionally tallied 54,836 AI-cited job cut plans in 2025 and wrote that markets seem to reward corporations that point out AI.
A counterpoint has emerged that some corporations might lean on AI branding whereas slicing for broader causes.
For crypto-oriented traders, Block’s fairness narrative nonetheless carries Bitcoin-linked swing components even when the catalyst is headcount.
The firm stated it continues to ship Proto bitcoin mining items, and it reported that fourth-quarter 2025 internet earnings included a $234 million unfavourable influence from bitcoin remeasurement, in contrast with a $252 million profit within the year-ago quarter.
Block additionally disclosed a fourth-quarter repurchase of 11.9 million shares for $790 million, leaving $5.3 billion in licensed repurchases.
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