US fintech Block is laying off 931 employees and closing 748 open positions as part of a significant reorganisation.
This decision was communicated to staff in an email from Jack Dorsey, Block’s co-founder and CEO, which was leaked to TechCrunch. Dorsey indicated that 391 roles would be eliminated for “strategy” reasons. Additionally, 460 employees who received a “below” rating on the company’s internal performance metrics will also be let go. To streamline the company’s structure, 80 managerial positions will be cut.
Dorsey clarified, “None of the above points are trying to hit a specific financial target, replacing folks with AI, or changing our headcount cap. They are specific to our needs around strategy, raising the bar and acting faster on performance, and flattening our org so we can move faster and with less abstraction.”
This announcement follows a previous reduction of 1,000 jobs in January 2024, which was driven by similar reasoning. The latest layoffs come on the heels of Block being ordered to pay a total of $255 million by state regulators and the CFPB due to AML and fraud failures associated with the Cash App.