Block Inc. saw its stock surge by more than 20% in premarket trading on Friday following an announcement that the company will reduce its workforce by nearly half as it embeds artificial intelligence tools across its operations. The company framed the reductions as part of an overhaul to reorganize around AI-enabled processes.
Jack Dorsey, Block's CEO, warned that many companies were "late" to recognize the emerging technology's potential, signaling a leadership view that AI will reshape how firms are run. Analysts at Evercore ISI described the change not merely as a headcount cut, but as a structural shift - "At its core, it’s about how some companies may be run going forward - not just doomsday headcount reductions, but also enabling higher ROI investments in growth and FCF," they wrote, referring to free cash flow.
Industry observers see the actions at Block as an example of how U.S. fintech firms are responding to AI's potential to automate certain functions. Economists at Goldman Sachs have estimated that AI was responsible for job losses amounting to a 5,000 to 10,000 hit to average monthly job growth in the industries most exposed to it in 2025, underscoring the possible scale of employment impact in affected sectors.
Block expanded its staffing aggressively during the pandemic, when digital payments and online commerce usage jumped. The company’s headcount rose from about 3,800 employees in 2019 to more than 10,000 in 2025 as it navigated rising competition in its payments and buy-now-pay-later segments. In that context, some analysts characterized the current reductions as a mix of AI-driven efficiency and trimming of excess corporate staffing. "In Block’s case, this looks like a mix of AI efficiency gains and an overdue clean-up of corporate bloat," said Matt Britzman, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
JPMorgan analysts noted that while the reduction in force is substantial, it moves Block’s headcount back toward pandemic-era levels and improves its productivity metrics. They said the change leaves Block as a standout in gross profit per employee, placing it well ahead of peers including Visa.
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