Block slashes 4,000 jobs, cutting 40% of workforce as AI takes over roles

Block reported quarterly revenue of $6.25 billion, up 3.6 % year‑over‑year, and a gross profit of $2.9 billion for Q4 2025, according to the shareholder letter cited by The Register. Full‑year figures showed $24.2 billion in revenue and $10.36 billion in gross profit, with a $1 billion profit in December alone. Despite the strong financials, CEO Jack Dorsey said the company is “already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company” (The Register).

The AI‑driven restructuring will eliminate roughly 4,000 positions, or 40 % of Block’s 10,000‑person workforce, as detailed in both The Register and VentureBeat. Dorsey framed the decision as a proactive move rather than a reaction to distress, noting that “gross profit continues to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers, and profitability is improving” (VentureBeat). He argued that a gradual, multi‑month layoff process would erode morale and trust, so the company opted for a single, decisive cut (VentureBeat).

Block’s internal “intelligence tools” are not described in technical detail, but Dorsey emphasized that they allow a significantly smaller team to “do more and do it better.” The shareholder letter and a Xeet‑style post on X (formerly Twitter) both stress that these tools are already reshaping operational workflows, prompting a shift toward “smaller and flatter teams” (The Register). Dorsey suggested that the AI‑enabled model will accelerate the company’s growth trajectory, giving it “the space to grow our business the right way, on our own” (VentureBeat).

Analysts have noted that Block’s move mirrors a broader industry trend of leveraging generative AI to trim headcount. While the company’s earnings beat expectations, the 23 % jump in Block’s stock price after the announcement (reported by The Register) indicates investor confidence that AI efficiencies will sustain profitability. However, the scale of the cuts—one of the largest in fintech history—raises questions about the long‑term impact on product development and customer support functions that traditionally rely on human expertise.

The layoffs also affect Block’s diverse portfolio, which includes Square’s merchant payments, Cash App’s peer‑to‑peer transfers, the music‑streaming service Tidal, and the open‑source AI agentic system Goose. Dorsey’s note on X underscored that the restructuring is “not because we’re in trouble” but a strategic pivot to align the entire ecosystem with AI‑first operations (VentureBeat). The company will now rely on its remaining 6,000 employees to integrate and scale these tools across all business lines, a transition that will be closely watched by competitors and regulators alike.