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Block layoffs: Tech company slashes staff by 40%

By
FOX Local
Business
Published February 26, 2026 5:17 PM MST
Published February 26, 2026 5:17 PM MST
article

FILE -  In this photo illustration, a smartphone displays the logo of Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ), an American financial technology company.  (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)

The Brief

    • Block announced it will lay off 40% of its workforce as it shifts focus toward expanding its use of artificial intelligence.
    • CEO Jack Dorsey said the company remains financially strong but believes AI tools and smaller teams are transforming how businesses operate.
    • The move comes amid a broader wave of corporate layoffs and a slowing U.S. job market marked by reduced hiring and economic uncertainty.

Block is laying off 40% of its workforce in favor of AI expansion, the company announced on Thursday. 

CEO Jack Dorsey, who was the former chief executive and co-founder of X (formerly Twitter), shared a lengthy message on X to his staff about timeline, the reason behind the layoffs and what those who were impacted by the decision can expect in the near future. 

What they're saying:

"We're not making this decision because we're in trouble. Our business is strong. Gross profit continues to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers, and profitability is improving. But something has changed. 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. and that's accelerating rapidly," Dorsey wrote. 

Block joins other large companies laying off its staff in 2026, including UPS, Amazon, and Dow.

What is Block? 

Block operates through the Cash App and Square app, creating a one-stop-shop for ecommerce. The service provides peer-to-peer payments, bitcoin and stock investments. 

US job market

Dig deeper:

The Labor Department also recently reported that job openings fell in December to the lowest level in more than five years.

For now, the U.S. job market appears stuck in what economists call a "low-hire, low-fire" state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find a new job.

Data over the past year has broadly revealed a labor market in which hiring has clearly slowed, hobbled by uncertainty stoked by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the lingering effects of the high interest rates the Fed engineered in 2022 and 2023 to tamp down a spike of pandemic-induced inflation.

Economists are conflicted about whether the stronger-than-expected January job gains are a one-off or possibly the first sign of a recovering labor market, which could lead the Fed to further delay more cuts to its key interest rate.

What's next:

The government issues its February jobs report next week.

The Source: Information for this article was taken from a tweet posted by Block CEO Jack Dorsey on X on Feb. 26, 2026, and reporting by The Associated Press. This story was reported from San Jose. 

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