Block Cuts 4,000 Jobs as AI Takes Center Stage

4,000 jobs cut as Block goes all in on AI Afterpay employees in Australia affected. By Denham Sadler on Mar 02 2026 12:20 PM Print article Tweet !function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], p = /^http:/.test(d.location) ? 'http' : 'https'; if (!d.getElementById(id)) { js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = p + '://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); } } (document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs'); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.0"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); } (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); lang: en_US Afterpay parent company Block has chopped 4,000 jobs. Photo: Shutterstock Afterpay parent company Block is shedding 4,000 jobs – nearly half its workforce – as the tech giant goes all in on artificial intelligence. It marks another major tech firm blaming large-scale job cuts on the use of AI and automation. Block co-founder Jack Dorsey last week publicly shared a note sent to employees telling them that the fintech titan’s workforce of more than 10,000 people would be reduced to just over 6,000. This will likely impact many Australian workers, with Block acquiring local fintech giant Afterpay, which is still based in Sydney, in 2022 . The job cuts come despite Block reporting strong financial results, with its fourth quarter projection up nearly 25 per cent to $4.03 billion ($US2.87 billion). ‘Accelerating rapidly’ Dorsey said this was “one of the hardest decisions in the history of our company”, and was not due to financial issues, but rather to place “intelligence at the core of everything we do”. “We’re not making this decision because we’re in trouble,” Dorsey said in the note to employees. “Our business is strong. Gross profit continues to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers, and profitability is improving.” But Dorsey said that something has fundamentally changed with the use of AI and it would now preemptively be slashing its workforce to better prepare for this. “We’re 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,” he said. “And that’s accelerating rapidly.” In financial guidance issued last week, Block CFO Amrita Ahuja said that the company has an "opportunity to move faster with smaller, highly talented teams using AI to automate more work”. Dorsey said the aim was to make the company far more efficient, with a goal of $US2 million or more gross profit per employee – four times its efficiency pre-2020. The Aussie impact Australian tech workers will be impacted by the announcement, with many Afterpay staff still based locally. Afterpay vice-president of marketing Joel Moran posted on LinkedIn last week that he had been let go as a result of the mass job cuts. “It feels scary right now,” Moran posted. “But this team is packed with talent and experience. If you’re finishing this journey with Block / Afterpay soon: it’s the unknown for a bit. “But a year from now you’ll be somewhere new, and grateful that life handed you a new set of cards. It always works out better than you imagined.” Block and Afterpay did not respond to a request for comment on how many employees in Australia would be impacted by the cuts. Afterpay is still based in Australia and expects to be affected by jobs losses. Photo: Shutterstock In a stark warning for Australian and global tech workers, Dorsey added that he thinks most companies will undergo a similar shift in the coming years. “I think most companies are late,” he said. “Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes. I’d rather get there honestly and on our own terms than be forced into it reactively.” ‘Be honest, act now’ Block was one of many large tech firms to grow its workforce significantly during the COVID pandemic. In 2019, the company reported fewer than 4,000 employees, with this more than doubling to over 10,000 before last week’s announcement. In a follow-up post on X, Dorsey admitted that the company had “over-hired” during the pandemic, but this had been corrected by mid-2024. Dorsey said he had opted to “be honest about where we are and act on it now” rather than make gradual cuts over the coming months or years. “Repeated rounds of cuts are destructive to morale, to focus, and to the trust that customers and shareholders place in our ability to lead,” he said. “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 smaller company also gives us the space to grow our business the right way, on our own terms, instead of constantly reacting to market pressures.” Bl