Inside the Rolling Layoffs at Jack Dorsey’s Block

Title: “Block’s Internal Collapse: Morale Crumbles as AI Mandates and Layoffs Fuel Performance Anxiety”

In the wake of mass layoffs at Jack Dorsey’s fintech giant Block, a chilling picture of internal dysfunction is emerging from within the company. What was once a high-flying tech empire—home to Square and Cash App—now faces a crisis of culture, morale, and leadership, according to multiple current and former employees who spoke to WIRED under the condition of anonymity.

The layoffs, which began in early February, have already impacted hundreds of workers and could eventually affect up to 10% of Block’s approximately 11,000-person workforce. But rather than a swift, one-time event, the process has been drawn out over weeks, leaving employees in a constant state of uncertainty. “We don’t yet know if our livelihoods will be affected, and this makes it incredibly hard to make major life choices without knowing if we still have a job next week,” one employee lamented during a recent all-hands meeting with Dorsey.

The internal atmosphere, according to sources, has devolved into one of pervasive anxiety and distrust. In a transcript of the all-hands meeting seen by WIRED, an employee described the company’s culture as “crumbling,” with morale at its lowest point in four years. The layoffs, they said, have created a climate where performance anxiety is rampant, and the pressure to adopt generative AI tools has become a source of contention.

Block’s engineering lead, Arnaud Weber, sent an email to staff after the initial wave of layoffs, framing the cuts as performance-related rather than cost-saving measures. “As part of our 2025 performance cycle, we have parted ways with teammates who weren’t meeting the expectations of their role,” Weber wrote. “These departures were based on clear performance gaps, role expectations, and alignment coming out of calibrations on the bar for each level.” However, multiple sources told WIRED they disagree with this characterization, viewing the messaging as a way to deflect from the financial motivations behind the layoffs.

Adding to the tension, Dorsey has implemented a system where employees are required to send weekly update emails, which he then uses generative AI to summarize. During the all-hands meeting, Dorsey acknowledged that workers’ messages frequently cited “widespread concerns about layoffs,” “performance anxiety,” and “the tension between accelerating delivery through AI adoption versus maintaining code quality and engineering rigor.”

Dorsey’s stance on AI is clear: he believes that employees must embrace generative AI tools to stay competitive. “Top-down mandates to use large language models are crazy,” one current Block employee told WIRED. “If the tool were good, we’d all just use it.” Yet Dorsey has doubled down, warning that Block risks being outpaced by competitors if it doesn’t maximize productivity through AI adoption.

The layoffs and AI mandates have created a perfect storm of discontent within the company. Employees describe a culture where trust in leadership has eroded, and the fear of being the next to go looms large. “Morale is probably the worst I’ve felt in four years,” another employee wrote in a complaint to Dorsey. “The overarching culture at Block is crumbling.”

As Block continues to navigate this turbulent period, the question remains: can Dorsey and his leadership team restore confidence and stability, or will the company’s internal fractures deepen further? For now, the employees left behind are left to grapple with the fallout, unsure of what the future holds.

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