Jack Dorsey's Block looking to cut up to 10% of workforce in latest efficiency push: Bloomberg

Block Inc., the Jack Dorsey-led fintech company behind Cash App, Square and Afterpay, is preparing to cut up to 10% of its staff as part of a broader business overhaul, Bloomberg reported Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. Block did not immediately respond to a request for comment from (similarly-named, but entirely independent) The Block. 

The cuts are happening across multiple teams as managers carry out year-end performance evaluations expected to run through late February, according to Bloomberg. It marks the third significant workforce reduction at Block in roughly two years, following the March 2025 elimination of 931 roles and the January 2024 cut of about 1,000 positions.

Block has been in near-continuous restructuring since 2024, working to integrate Cash App with Square while investing in newer ventures. In November 2024, Block said it would prioritize bitcoin mining and wind down its decentralized tech arm TBD, scaling back investments in music streaming platform Tidal while laying off staff from both units. The company has also been developing Goose, an AI productivity tool developed in-house.

At its investor day in November 2025, Block laid out an ambitious three-year financial framework, projecting mid-teens annual gross profit growth through 2028 and guiding for $11.98 billion in gross profit for 2026. The company also announced a $5 billion increase to its share repurchase program, sending shares up roughly 8%.

Earnings performance has been uneven, however. Block beat expectations in Q2, reporting 14% year-over-year gross profit growth and prompting a raised full-year outlook. But in Q3, the company missed analyst estimates on both revenue and adjusted EPS, reporting $6.11 billion and $0.54 per share against consensus of $6.34 billion and $0.63, with shares falling nearly 10% in after-hours trading. XYZ is down roughly 37% over the past year and about 13% year to date. The stock closed Friday at $55.97, up about 4.85% on the session.

The layoffs land amid a broader wave of corporate job cuts. U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs in January, the highest total for the month since 2009, per Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Block's Q4 earnings report on Feb. 26 will offer the first look at whether sustained headcount reductions are translating into the margin expansion investors have been waiting for.