Block (formerly Square)—Block laid off 931 employees (8% of workforce) citing strategy and performance reasons
Block announced layoffs affecting 931 employees, approximately 8% of its workforce, following a previous round of roughly 1,000 layoffs in January 2024. CEO Jack Dorsey categorized the cuts as 391 people eliminated for being 'off strategy,' 460 workers terminated for performance (scoring below on internal metrics), and 80 managers removed to flatten the hierarchy. The layoffs were communicated via a company-wide email from Dorsey.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.858 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
TechCrunch published Dorsey's email announcing 931 layoffs at Block
TechCrunch obtained and published the internal email from CEO Jack Dorsey announcing layoffs of 931 employees, detailing the breakdown: 391 for strategy, 460 for performance, and 80 managers.