![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-1233275147-e1772213494534.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, the tech world has been abuzz with AI \u201cjobpocalypse\u201d warnings. Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman warned that white-collar workers have a year to 18 months before they face widespread job displacement. Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon concurred.<\/p>\n
These threats have caused many professional workers\u2019 stomachs to churn as they fear for their heads. Now, Jack Dorsey\u2019s payments firm, Block, has made a move that vindicates some of the fears of the AI doomers.<\/p>\n
The Block founder announced Thursday the company would be laying off nearly half its workforce, cutting 4,000 employees, down to just under 6,000 workers from over 10,000.<\/p>\n
Dorsey didn\u2019t mince words in an X post announcing the cuts, tying the layoffs directly to an efficiency boost from the company\u2019s AI implementation. \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing that the intelligence tools we\u2019re 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,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Block\u2019s layoffs mark one of the most significant and bold AI-driven workforce reductions yet in S&P 500 history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dorsey added that his company isn\u2019t alone in reaching its conclusion on AI and predicted that others will follow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think most companies are late. Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes,\u201d he wrote in a separate letter to shareholders.<\/p>\n
While Dorsey noted the layoffs were in part a reaction to overhiring during COVID, they follow AI-driven doomsday anxiety among workers and investors alike: Citrini Research\u2019s \u201cGlobal Intelligence Crisis\u201d Substack post imagined a scenario in 2028 where unemployment tops 10% and the S&P 500 tanks.<\/p>\n
And yet, as an Oxford Economics report released in January found, many layoffs that CEOs called AI-related were actually the result of past overhiring. <\/p>\n
Still, some experts warn that Block\u2019s layoffs could trigger the reality depicted in Citrini\u2019s viral post, setting in motion a chain reaction of layoffs across the professional landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhereas the job market effects of AI in 2025 were still quite ambiguous, AI capabilities have advanced rapidly in the past few months,\u201d Anton Korinek, an economist who focuses on the economic impact of transformative AI, told Fortune<\/em>. \u201cThis may be the beginning of a new trend where white-collar jobs become threatened more seriously by AI. Once a few companies start the trend, competitive forces may induce others to follow suit.\u201d<\/p>\n But Dorsey\u2019s statement comes as companies are still in the early stages of AI adoption. A 2025 McKinsey report found that most firms are still experimenting with AI implementation, and nearly two-thirds have yet to scale the technology. Moreover, a recent survey of 6,000 CEOs and other executives of firms across the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Australia from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that AI has yet to show any major impact on their operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, other tech leaders have warned AI will eventually lead to fewer jobs. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said last year the company would probably need a smaller headcount as AI started to automate tasks. And Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said he \u201cneeds less heads\u201d after reducing the company\u2019s customer support workforce by 4,000 as AI takes over some work.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Block, AI implementation has bolstered the company\u2019s operations. \u201cWe\u2019re not making this decision because we\u2019re in trouble,\u201d Dorsey noted in his X post. \u201cOur business is strong.\u201d The company reported a gross profit of $2.87 billion in the fourth quarter, up 24% year over year.<\/p>\n Dorsey also said the company\u2019s customer base is expanding and profitability is improving, which he attributed to AI implementation.<\/p>\n The stock market has reacted positively to the decision. Block was up nearly 18% on Friday as investors bet on productivity gains from AI.<\/p>\n Dorsey said the layoffs come in anticipation of an ensuing trend, allowing the company to act proactively: \u201cI\u2019d rather get there honestly and on our own terms than be forced into it reactively.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Jack #Dorsey #lays #Block #sees #firms #making #similar #cuts #year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In recent weeks, the tech worl… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[2378,550,14722,290,2024,14597,2188,1859,958,564,14723,85],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25938"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Block\u2019s AI operations have paid off<\/strong><\/h2>\n