Adrian JohnsonIn a recent internal memo to employees, Jack Dorsey announced that his fintech firm, Block, will be laying off approximately 10% of its workforce. This decision will affect staff in the Cash App, Afterpay, and Square subsidiaries of the company. Dorsey explained that the company felt it would be better to make the layoffs all at once, rather than spacing them out, as it would be fairer to the affected individuals and the company as a whole. In an earnings call last year, Block had previously stated plans to reduce its headcount from 13,000 to an “absolute cap” of 12,000 by the end of this year.
One of the major challenges facing Block is the decline in revenues from its Cash App service, a peer-to-peer payments service. Additionally, the company’s acquisition of buy now, pay later (BNPL) service Afterpay has resulted in significant losses. Square, one of Block’s subsidiaries, is also facing competition on multiple fronts from companies such as Fiserv’s Clover, Toast, and Stripe.
Despite these challenges, Block reported $5.62 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2023, with $44 million in profit from its Bitcoin holdings. Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Block in 2009, was appointed as Head and Chairperson of the company last year. However, his title recently changed to “Block Head and Chairperson.” According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), there will be no changes in Dorsey’s roles and responsibilities.
