Block lays off 40% of workforce as it goes all-in on AI tools

The staff reduction at Block comes as anxiety rises about AI leading to job losses across vast parts of the economy.

Investors and economists are grappling with an influx of US economic data and corporate announcements in an effort to gauge the impact the technology could be having on the labor market. The latest non-farm payrolls figures were better than expected, suggesting the domestic jobs market was stabilizing, but several big US companies have committed to cutting staff.

Amazon, UPS, Dow, Nike, Home Depot, and others in late January announced they would be cutting a combined 52,000 jobs.

Dorsey said the cuts at Block, which owns the payment processor Square, came despite what he described as a “strong” financial performance in 2025.

Block has made a contrarian bet on bitcoin at a time when many payment companies favored stablecoins: cash-like digital tokens that became regulated in the US last year.

Block’s strategy was spearheaded by Dorsey, a “bitcoin maximalist” who has said he believes the digital currency will eventually eclipse the dollar.

The company offers payment services in bitcoin for merchants and consumers—and suffered a loss on its own bitcoin holdings as the price of the cryptocurrency dropped 23 percent this year.

In contrast, payment companies that made a bet on stablecoins experienced a boost. Stripe earlier this week said its stablecoin transaction volumes increased fourfold last year.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, Block reported revenue of almost $6.3 billion, in line with Wall Street expectations. Its earnings tumbled to 19 cents a share, owing to a $234 million hit on its bitcoin holdings.

Source link