Block Lays Off 40% Of Staff And Blames It On AI. Don’t Buy The Excuse.
Payments company Block announced it’s laying off 40% of its staff. According to Chairman and founder Jack Dorsey:
“This decision comes from a position of strength. Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company. A significantly smaller team using the tools we’re building can do more and do it better.”
Wall Street bought the story. Block’s stock spiked 20% in after-hours trading on news of the layoffs. Why Wall Street is buying Dorsey’s story, however is perplexing (although it does have a history of mis-pricing fintech stocks--see the Fiserv story).