Block is eliminating jobs for the second time this year, extending a workforce restructuring programme led by chief executive Jack Dorsey as the fintech company seeks to reduce operating costs and reorganize teams around greater use of automation and artificial intelligence.
The company informed some employees on Wednesday that their positions were being eliminated, according to an email seen by Business Insider. Two people familiar with the matter said the latest cuts affected Cash App, Block’s consumer financial services business. Some employees in Square, its seller-services division, also reported on social media that they had been laid off.
The total number of employees affected was not immediately known.
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The internal email said teams in Customer Operations, Risk Operations, and Learning and Content Operations would be affected by changes involving “reducing the number of roles, changing some responsibilities, and shifting some reporting lines.”
Some employees would leave the company, while others would enter a consultation process, according to the message. Those affected would receive a “separation package and transition support, similar to those affected in February 2026.”
The latest reductions come less than a year after the company announced one of the largest workforce cuts in the technology sector, when it said it would eliminate more than 40% of its employees.
In February, Block said it planned to reduce its workforce from more than 10,000 employees to just under 6,000. Dorsey said at the time that the company was not facing financial difficulties, arguing instead that artificial intelligence and other “intelligence tools” had fundamentally changed the requirements for running a business.
The restructuring was expected to generate between $800 million and $900 million in annualized net cost savings, according to the company.
The February announcement established AI-driven operational efficiency as a central part of Dorsey’s strategy. The latest internal communication did not explicitly attribute the new job reductions to artificial intelligence, but it referred to “using better tools to handle routine tasks” and “refocusing our teams’ time on complex cases and decisions.”
That language points to a continuing effort to automate more repetitive work while concentrating employees on tasks requiring judgement and intervention. The changes also suggest that the February restructuring has not ended Block’s efforts to reshape its operating model.
The impact on customer support and risk operations could be significant because those functions handle routine service requests, account-related issues, and decisions involving potential financial misconduct. Greater automation may reduce the number of employees needed for standard cases, while increasing the importance of human oversight for complicated or sensitive matters.
Block’s challenge will be maintaining service quality and risk controls as it reduces staffing and changes reporting structures across its businesses.
The latest layoffs come days after Block reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results. Gross profit increased 22% year over year to $3.24 billion, supported by growth in both Square and Cash App.
The company also raised its full-year outlook, forecasting gross profit of $12.6 billion in 2026.
The results show that the workforce reductions are taking place alongside business growth rather than an immediate deterioration in reported performance. Block’s restructuring is therefore framed around operating efficiency, cost discipline and the allocation of resources, rather than a response to weakening revenue.
Dorsey has pushed the company to consolidate teams and expand its use of AI tools, arguing that the technology is changing how businesses are organized and operated. The approach places Block among technology companies seeking to translate AI adoption into lower labor costs and more efficient internal processes.
The wider technology industry has also experienced substantial workforce reductions this year. Companies including Amazon, Oracle, Meta and Microsoft have announced significant cuts, citing a combination of cost controls, organizational changes, slower-growing businesses and the need to redirect investment towards AI.
Earlier in the year, Block’s February layoffs formed part of a broader wave of reductions involving companies such as Snap, Atlassian and Coinbase, some of which also identified AI as a factor in their decisions.
The distinction between automation-led restructuring and conventional cost-cutting has caught the full attention of investors. Companies are under pressure to demonstrate that AI investments can improve productivity and profitability, but workforce reductions alone do not establish whether those gains are sustainable. The longer-term test will be businesses maintaining service standards, managing operational risks and supporting growth with smaller teams.
Block shares fell 4% on Wednesday following the latest developments. The stock has gained nearly 15% over the past year but remains well below its 2021 highs.
The latest cuts add another stage to Dorsey’s effort to rebuild Block around a leaner operating structure. With the company reporting stronger gross profit and raising its annual forecast, investors will be watching whether the expected efficiency gains translate into sustained improvements in profitability without weakening the performance of Cash App and Square.