Jack Dorsey's Block announces major layoffs as AI reshapes workforce
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| Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty Images |
Jack Dorsey's Block, a fintech company that owns Square and Cash App, is laying off nearly half of its workforce.
Dorsey announced the layoffs on X, citing AI as the main reason behind the move.
"Today we're making one of the hardest decisions in the history of our company: we're reducing our organization by nearly half, from over 10,000 people to just under 6,000," he wrote.
The layoffs come after a strong quarter for Block, with revenue, profit, and customer base all growing. But Dorsey appears to think that the rise of AI makes this move inevitable, presenting the decision as a choice between doing one sharp cut now, or laying people off slowly over a longer period of time.
"I'd rather take a hard, clear action now and build from a position we believe in than manage a slow reduction of people toward the same outcome," he wrote.
Employees that are being laid off will get their salary for 20 weeks plus one week per year of tenure, six months of health care, and $5,000 in cash, among other benefits. But how hard will it be for them to find another job?
Dorsey's reasoning echoes the sentiment recently shared by several tech leaders, with Anthropic's Boris Cherny claiming that "coding is largely solved" and Elon Musk saying that AI will "replace all jobs." A widely shared "thought exercise" by Citrini recently predicted an economic collapse by 2028 due to AI driving humans out of work.
SEE ALSO:Anthropic changes safety policy amid intense AI competition
"Something has changed," wrote Dorsey. "We're already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company. and that's accelerating rapidly."
The market reacted positively to the news, with Block's shares rising by nearly 30 percent in extended trading following the announcement.
Topics Artificial Intelligence
Oh cool, 4000 people are out of work but at least the stock price rose temporarily.
ReplyDeleteReal lives down the shitter while Monopoly money raises up, good job.
DeleteI’m curious when in our timeline we went from thinking about workers to thinking about some random stock price that isn’t even real
DeleteShareholder primacy took root in the 1920's
DeleteBut it subsumed corporate America by the 90's and early 00's
For a few decades at least, but it has definitely gone into overdrive just over the last 4-5 years.
DeleteBlock is profitable too. Not like they were losing money.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteI am a shareholder. Not of Block specifically, but of many other companies. I would never want massive layoffs as a mechanism to increase my portfolio value.
DeleteThe solution is not to keep people working where they are not longer needed, its to loop everyone in in the back end of the gains via a ubi like system.
DeleteThat would require more taxes on things that aren't wages, because one can't really tax a wage that doesn't exist anymore. (Think corporate profits, or taxes on the business value itself)
DeleteAnd with the current congress critters, that'll never happen, unfortunately.
Something will have to give if the the trend continues. The choice is a star trek future, or elysium.
DeleteThe ruling class chose elysium, a long time ago.
DeleteApparently "eat ze bugs" is cool when it's silicon valley millionaires and not old rich Jewish guys.
DeleteIs it just the goatee or does he look like a normal size Peter Dinklage?
ReplyDeletePeter Dinklage looks like a normal sized Peter Dinklage, but yes this guy looks like a stretched out Peter Dinklage
DeleteDidn't he recently come out of the cupboard?
DeleteTouché
DeleteThey’ll lay off support staff And keep it hire more salesmen
ReplyDeleteSalesmen will sell everyone promises. And nothing will be supported.
In 5 years some company will return to live voice support as a differentiation and it will work.
DeleteHahaha. Thats what I say about AI social and AI Search Engine Optimisation.
DeleteIn a few years everyone will be like “OMG. Have you seen this new influencer?? It’s a REAL PERSON MAKING VIDEOS ABOUT THEMSELVES”
SEO has killed search engines IMO. When every little cooking blog states to optimize their pages and content for SEO the joy of finding what you are looking for went out of the window.
DeleteIt is so easy to tell when a company is actually investing in its support staff vs. doing the bare minimum.
DeleteThis is valid, they're hiring field sales reps for Square and offering 6 figure base salaries which is crazy for the industry. Payments sales reps typically make low bases with high commission potential
DeleteBlock coincidentally hired about 4-5k people during the pandemic and their business didn't grow to support it. And their stock is massively down since then.
ReplyDeleteJack will blame AI on his own failures, for sure.
This. It’s not that AI is capable, just cost cutting.
DeleteNuke the Tech bro and aging Silicon Valley billionaire culture into the ground. It’s proven to have done more harm than good. We’re in the second gilded age with the Ellisons, Thiel, Musk, and Altman. Exile them to Saint Helena and quarantine it so their collective fart sniffing doesn’t further infect the American people.
ReplyDeleteTech has done more harm than good?
DeleteBro, that’s just a ridiculous claim. Technology has improved nearly every aspect of the human experience from the mundane to the extraordinary.
Secondarily, why should companies keep employees in the pay roll if they don’t need their workforce?
AI is a scapegoat the economy is in the shitter and they were going to lay off people anyways
ReplyDeletehttps://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbnZrYThuZ212OHFsdXJ5NXV0bHNxdGhjY2xkdGwzaWpmcHFwcDRrMyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/DFu7j1d1AQbaE/giphy.gif
DeleteAs long as companies keep getting rewarded for this they will do it. If we don’t choose people over Ai, the companies will cut as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteImagine being one of the remaining 6000 knowing with every advancement you make, you’re closer to being replaced.
DeleteAnd you are training the Ai to do your job
DeleteOr like from space we look like a bunch of ants, frantically scurrying around to build the data centers, build the power plants, and build the chat model that will ultimately become our God.
DeleteDon’t have to imagine, every single working person is going through this right now.
DeleteHow would you have preferred Block to have acted?
DeleteRetained the workforce that they didn’t need?
Retain the workforce and be even more productive with the added tools of AI
DeleteWhat if the market doesn’t allow or require that amount of workforce at this time?
DeleteShould Block just eat that cost?
Companies can be encouraged to do so if they choose humans first. This is a complicated issue. If you think that just capitalism will sort this one out, you are going to be in for a rude awakening. The degree of disruption here could break society. The goal of innovation should be to improve our lives. Ai may exterminate us all or maybe just gut society through unemployment and the accompanying resulting depression that creates a world of peasants and a very few kings.
DeleteI agree that AI being implemented into almost every profession can be a huge problem.
DeleteI don’t think there’s anything we can do to stop that though.
I disagree that companies should choose humans first. That’s an unmeasurable metric that cannot be defined.
What is the point of all of this? Why are we progressing as a society if it will just make life worse for the vast majority. You may think the way you think now, but when it starts affecting you or your loved ones, you will come around that we need regulation so that we can all profit. We limited nuclear weapons to prevent the destruction of the world. We can figure something out with AI. We shouldn’t just throw up our hands.
DeleteI have empathy for you and your ideas, unfortunately it's mostly platitudes.
DeleteThe improvements of the past 250 years have made life objectively better for a vast majority of people. By almost any metric.
One thing that is enabling those improvements is allowing companies to act in their own benefit. Because as it turns out, what benefits a company also benefits me.
They make a cool product or service in the pursuit of profit, I get a cool product or service.
As it turns out, no one but the small few benefit from being retained by a company who doesn't need them.
Life goes on, they get different jobs where they are needed. I agree it sucks and there are hardships that go with that, but those hardships pale in comparison to what happens when people stop making cool products and services in the pursuit of profit.
How do you intend on limiting nuclear weapons?
There's an idea world, and the real world. The real world is there are countries out there who we cannot stop from getting nuclear weapons without going on a full scale war with them. I don't think you want that either, right?
The point of all this is life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I achieve that by having autonomy. I recognize that other people, including companies, also enjoy that autonomy.
If this was going to happen over the course of 20-30 years you might be right. But it looks like it will happen over the course of 5. Society can’t adjust that quickly. If no one is employed, n9 one has money to buy things. It trickles down. It’s easy to imagine a world that isn’t much worse for the vast majority of the people to the benefit of a very few. You can’t say that about the past 250 years.
Delete
DeleteI’m with you on that, AI is unprecedented and is stomping on the gas.
I’m not sure what’s going to happen and I’m not sure we can do anything about it.
UBI, more regulation? I don’t know.
UBI won’t happen if the companies get so powerful we are at their mercy. They don’t want to pay taxes now. Do you think they will want to when they have all the power and robots to defend them from any uprising by the impoverished?
DeleteThese companies typically get rewarded for growth, larger future PE ratios due to large sustained growth drive stock prices. This behaviour inverts that by prefering cost reduction to increase profit per employee. The previous poster (i think) was suggesting AI empowers the same headcount to drive more growth. Effectively, this stratrgy favours profit expansion at the expense of growth (most likely), unless AI results in a 60%+ productivity gain per employee, especially in sales and festure development to attract new customers.
DeleteI personally think its short sighted and reeks of MBA group think to pad resumes, drive short term bonuses, at the expense of longer term company health. The jury is still out on that for these early AI adopters, maybe they are geniuses and this is an inevitsble trend.
If these companies really want to save money and boost stock prices, they should replace their C-suites with AI. They're by far the most expensive employees in the company, and by all accounts they do so little actual work that an AI could easily handle their tasks.
ReplyDeleteHaving everything be dependent on stock prices can't be a good thing long term.
ReplyDeleteGood
ReplyDeleteFor people who are confused, this is the company that owns CashApp. They made $5 billion in profits in 2024, and if you do the math and assume everyone was making $100k these layoffs will basically boost that by 10%. As he said... the business is strong... but why share the prosperity with the little people? Also hey, those donations to the newest DJT crypto coin scheme isn't going to fund itself.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2ky3mn7j5o
They were bloated and built their own internal AI “Goose”… not the test case for AI replacing jobs people think it is. FUD
ReplyDeleteI wonder when the capitalists will realize if nobody has a good wage they can’t buy all your products and services. Seems like a death spiral to me without UBI.
ReplyDeleteWe are certainly death spiraling towards poverty. It will take for the upper middle class to get hit hard before they realize it.
DeleteIt's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for 'em
ReplyDeleteTime for them to get a real job instead of playing air hockey and drinking smoothies.
ReplyDeleteWhat should they do? What do you do?
DeleteHe did the math, included the human cost as an acceptable variable, and optimized past it.
ReplyDeleteForgot what a hottie Dorsey is. Just fapped.
ReplyDeleteThat pic looks like Adam 22 with no face tats
ReplyDeleteWe layoff everyone but the CEO Investors: BULL BULL INVEST MORE 1 Year later CEO and Investors: Why is our stock going down
ReplyDeleteThat’s a tomorrow problem
DeleteI suppose this is all just part of the AI Doom-Feed-Loop. AI Investors are boosting the stock of companies that they think will boost their AI stock investments.
ReplyDeleteBlock now hiring in Pakistan.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg concerning this stuff.
ReplyDeleteI don't think people realize just how many jobs AI will replace. From musicians to accountants, programmers and doctors to poets and journalists.
As Peter Zeihan pointed out, this will be the first time in post-industrial history that blue collar jobs are actually the safest ones. The dirty hands-on working on the floor jobs are currently the one thing AI isn't looking to replace, the higher up educated people behind desks are the ones who're going to suffer this time around.
Fuck this loser.
ReplyDeleteWho the hell is on Block?
ReplyDeleteCan i ask a question.... hypothetically it is doom and gloom we all lose our jobs.
ReplyDeleteConsumer markets crash immediately. No money. No honey.
What will the solution be? If any? Or are we doomed to great depression level poverty and hoovervilles as described?
Wall Streets gain means main streets pain!
ReplyDeleteThis is not AI. They missed earnings and had massive bloat from over hiring during Covid.
ReplyDeleteAlso Dorsey is a piece of shit.
I'm pretty sure this silly bitch is going to realize his error very quickly. The introduction of any technology needs to be introduces slowly. Dropping 40% of your staff is like fall-on-your-face levels of fail.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteSucks for those employees, I hope they are able to find jobs quickly.
AI replacing humans in the workforce at the scale that is being projected is really concerning. I honestly have no idea how that’s going to shake out.
The issue is, AI is here to stay. The US can’t just legislate it out of existence for workers rights. Other countries won’t do that, and at some point just win the race.
With that, AI legitimately is a benefit to most industries. Productivity and output has significantly increased due to it. AI isn’t just a fad that will fade away.
Block’s move here is the correct on when you consider the actual benefits and the dead cost of retaining employees that your business doesn’t need.
On one had, technology has always displaced workers with huge gains. Those workers transition to other and new fields.
On the other hand, AI is simultaneously becoming the best option for all industries.
This is certainly an interesting and concerning problem.
Regardless of how valuable you are to a community and company you’ll somehow get mixed up in the waves of layoffs.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing that changes is the stability you’re working for top companies but worried about layoffs every month..
Halloween goul looks to reduce staffing.
ReplyDeleteI guess they decided to let us starve!
ReplyDeleteAhh yes, AI is helping humanity. Helping humanity to concentrate wealth among the wealthiest and control the masses. I’m happy to know that this would not have been possible without the masses being taxed.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know he was still running a company. Last I remembered he had sold Twitter and was only doing interviews because he had some ideas about western tech co's having "opportunities" in Africa which would induce a cringe from anyone with even a cursory understanding of world history
ReplyDelete20weeks of pay for every year of service.
ReplyDeleteSo, Block used to be Square. Then they went all in on crypto. Now they're taking a bath as crypto plunges.
ReplyDeleteNow, if you lay off 50% of your staff because your business is exposed to a hugely volatile commodity, investors panic. If you lay off 50% of your staff due to AI, you're part of the cutting edge and that valuation stays intact.
Hmmmm.
I always say the same thing, cost cutting is a race to the bottom. If the remaining employees aren’t panicking now, they should and run out the door as soon as they can because this is how little he thinks for his employees.
ReplyDeleteCan you blame him?? After all, he needed another jet and another mansion on the beach!
ReplyDelete“Some of you may die, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” - Lord Farquaad (Shrek (2001))
ReplyDeleteThis feels ideologically dissonant with his purported values and beliefs.
ReplyDelete!remindme 1 year
ReplyDeleteDorsey is was and always will be an asshole tech bro. Even at Twitter he was an asshat.
ReplyDeleteThey went from 5400 employees at the end of 2020 to 12400 2 years later. Could it be as simple as they way over hired?
ReplyDeleteHow long does it take for 4000 to burn down one office complex?
ReplyDelete(a) This is a business that only exists because it lobbies congress to make sure the IRS does not publish all its forms as fillable forms.
ReplyDelete(b) If Elon is going to steal all our data, the least he could do is fill out our tax forms for free.
Everyone was dick riding this dude after fElon took.over tweeter.
ReplyDeleteAnd he touches himself when he does it
ReplyDeleteOn one hand you have Jensen popping up on cnbc propping up the whole sector and then you have this stupid fuckin asshole self annointed god king saying whatever he needs to so that his stock is propped up. Posionous snake- screwing over his employees whilst he is at it. This could have been done in steps phasing out the overhiring headcount but nah- he needed a headline to show that XYZ shorts should be btfo. Lost all respect for him- he very well knows the whole market has been spooked about saas and software firms viability but this is his tone deaf self serving response.
ReplyDeleteWhen does AI take over the CEO’s? I bet they can do a better job.
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard from several impacted that a lot of the company “super stars” were included in the 4000.
ReplyDeleteAhhh then it's ok if others are also doing it
ReplyDeleteCeos are not needed either
ReplyDeleteAnd who does he think will buy his shit?
ReplyDeleteIt’s because everyone in tech is seeing how fast they can build tech with Codex. Literally things that took weeks before is now minutes. It’s going to be a massive amount of layoffs due to AI, IMO.
ReplyDeleteI work in tech. This is real. This is the tip of the iceberg. Claude Cowork is going to change things fast. At my company, we're already talking about how many of our vendors we won't be renewing. There's a 100% chance we'll be reducing headcount within the next 6-9 months.
ReplyDeleteUgh fuck this guy.
ReplyDeleteWeak leadership
ReplyDeleteThat beard looks so awful
ReplyDeleteSo we're inching towards the numbers needed for a successful general strike, got it.
ReplyDeleteMan, if I relied on any of the services his company offers, I'd look for alternatives. There's nobody home to fix or upgrade stuff.
ReplyDeleteI always read his name as “Dork Jassey”.
ReplyDeleteSad sad man
ReplyDeleteWhat a piece of shit.
ReplyDeleteNobody should be taking predictions from that donkey.
ReplyDeleteIf you’ve read the stories of how Twitter began and how Dorsey rose out of absolute obscurity, you’ll realize he’s an entirely different person than he was 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteAn enshittified person. Sad.
What does BLOCK even do?
ReplyDeleteBecause there is no original thought with these assholes.
ReplyDeleteLike when Facebook liquidated the whole Metaverse team and EVERYONE and their mother proceeded to fire people.
I dont get it, everyone's giving him shit but he's 100% correct. Why live in denial about it?
ReplyDeleteReal life Jean-Baptiste Zorg
ReplyDeleteSo tech bros created a tech that allows them to fire their own staff? Genius.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wired.com/story/inside-rolling-layoffs-jack-dorsey-block/
ReplyDeletePublished last week, before these massive layoffs.
"Block employees are currently expected to send an update email to Dorsey every week, who then uses generative AI to summarize the thousands of messages."
I say 50-50 he has ai psychosis lol. Talk to me chat, tell me what I should do!
Flailing businesses can just do this now to cut costs and claim they're AIing it up to fool investors longer.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how it will ever happen but as a society we sort of need to punish mismanagement at this scale again
ReplyDeleteLike he should be fired, to over hire by that much and then sack so many people while also not growing the companies books at all, he's done a shit job. Yet everyone shrugs and says oh well it is what it is
Sure Jack, I'm sure that'll happen just like how you predicted bitcoin would the the single global currency by 2028
ReplyDeleteReally trying to save the stock price for AI companies. AI is trash. It’s not replacing anybody.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. The explosion of new companies driven by the ability to run "lean" and "productive" businesses will happen any day now and absorb all of these layoffs.
ReplyDeleteAny second now . . .
It's amazing how many people just believe it whenever a tech CEO says their mass layoffs are due to AI.
ReplyDeleteI think all these tech CEOS are blaming AI because they don't want to admit that they simply overhired and the business they have can't support the workforce they've hired themselves into.
ReplyDeleteFuck this dude. Pantera fan scapegoating as a tech bro
ReplyDeleteI think AI is overhyped, but I know it’s starting to affect the job market.
ReplyDeletewould argue it's underhyped tbh
DeleteThis fuck bucket is just trying to cover up the fact they had money issues and head count issues for years.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet we’ll hear how it’s the lowest unemployment rate for any president in history.
ReplyDeleteI just initiated a 900 loan from cash app. Instant deposit. No plans to ever pay it back. This is my Luddite protest stand against AI. I hope everyone that has the ability to get a loan from cash app does so and never pays it back.
ReplyDeleteNice one douchebag. Why encourage other companies to layoff people for no reason?
ReplyDeleteFuck this broomstick!
ReplyDeleteOn God, I forgot this clown existed. I remember a Black Mirror episode that featured a character satirizing him. In any case, it’s good to see he still knows how to run a business.
ReplyDeleteThose are 4000 good jobs too.
ReplyDeleteSo AI will destroy the economy.
ReplyDeleteHis beard sucks and he sucks
ReplyDeleteGuys! It’s not the fact that Jack Dorsey has cratered the company, down 75% over the last 5 years, it’s AI!!!!!!
ReplyDeletehttps://finance.yahoo.com/quote/XYZ/
Well, they should've never been anywhere near $300 regardless. Same for pypl. Covid era investing was a sham... Powered by WSB
DeleteBlock share price jumped 20% after this announcement. At this point, laying off employees and blaming AI is a pump and dump scheme. CEOs are doing a disservice to their shareholders if they don't do it.
ReplyDeleteEvery CEO has to mention how they’re utilizing AI for cost savings on their quarterly earnings calls even if it’s just bullshit.
DeleteDon’t use it then fuck him
ReplyDeleteBlock is an ecosystem, not using a small piece won't impact it overall. The power of diversification
DeleteWho to believe? Dorsey or the CEO’s who all have said they’ve seen virtually no AI productivity gains from the article that has been posted here over and over during the past few weeks?
ReplyDeleteJack Dorsey is a robot
ReplyDeleteHe looks like he is putting some roof in suburban gated community houses. CEO? Don't know man... I wouldn't let him fix the fridge...
ReplyDeleteI usually hate TV show reboots, but I really think Silicone Valley should reboot. So much material and I don't think they'd miss a step.
ReplyDeleteWho is going to buy these tech billionaires shitty products when no one has jobs anymore? I hope all of these companies crash and burn.
ReplyDeleteThe other 6 company’s who trade money back and forth to prop up a failing economy.
DeleteI am a poor disabled lesbian, but if my wife and I could leave we would. I hate it here so much lol. I just want a nice little bungalow somewhere else and enjoy life with my cats (and ferrets) and help foster teens (I was a foster teen myself back in the day) Alas.... at least dreams are free.
DeleteIf you really wanted to move you would. Set a goal with achievable steps. Budgeting isn't hard
Delete
DeleteI have looked into this.... Unfortunately it isn't so easy to just pick up and move to another country.... I am disabled and low income... I also have no advanced degrees (neither does my wife) a lot of countries don't just let you move there.... you either have to have a desirable degree (such a Doctor) or wealth (and health)
For example, Canada is on my list but my wife and I don't really meet the criteria to permanently move there (yet) it could be that as we descend down this fascism path that I could apply for asylum should gay marriage be ruled illegal.
There’s a new CEO at my company whose comp is heavily tied to stock and who is beating the AI drum every second. It’s not looking good for us plebeians. Maybe AI will pay my mortgage, provide healthcare, etc. oh, wait.
ReplyDeleteAn AI post that contributes nothing but recycles info. Report this spam.
ReplyDeleteI just wish rest is the employees give up as well. Hope they have guts to take decisions for the team.
ReplyDeleteJust look at the trend of bitcoins, block’s high and lows are somewhat coincidental with price of bitcoin. Last year when bitcoin was at all times high he spend huge on invite everyone in block travel to usa for a week…
ReplyDeleteIt’s been something I just don’t understand.
ReplyDeleteLet’s say AI replaces all white collar jobs. Who is going to spend the money that a) keeps companies growing and b) makes the insanely expensive AI endeavor worth it.
So while it’s great for a single company’s bottom line to thin out their workforce, when every company does it, the entire system starts to unravel.
If white collar workers get displaced, the money they spend on goods/services by blue collar workers also starts to shrink (I.e. not hiring tradesman for a new house build or reno). With everyone having less affluence, US tax income tanks and our debt crisis basically just accelerates until the dollar is irrelevant.
I guess at one bookend of the AI hype we are screaming towards a collapse of institutions. I’m hopeful we truly are somewhere in the middle where tasks become easier and we get more out of our system. But if Dorsey is right it’s basically game over for his company and America (or the world) as we know it.
Maybe if Dorsey had said “I made a big bet on things that didn’t pan out. That’s the nature of business and I was wrong,” I’d have respect for him.
ReplyDeleteHe’s just another loser hiding his own incompetency behind the AI hype machine.
S2,`••1
ReplyDeleteRe ai not easily reflected in the numbers.. I want to share a simple example. I haven't been employed in a while as I run my own small business online. Writing marketing emails for a marketing campaign was total drudgery for me. Either I spent a week or more crafting them, or i hired someone to do it which costs several hundred to a few thousand dollars. With ai I do them in a day or two. No longer a drudgery at all and actually exciting that I can get it done quickly without worrying about my less than ideal language. What would you measure? Wouldn't you measure the fact that I didn't need the extra body or extra time to do this? It would be reflected in reduced headcount/freelance hires which are equivalent to the time needed for it.
ReplyDeleteI think the point that may be being missed here is that even if that is the case. Dorsey was the first to show his hand and what that’s taught the world is if you reduce headcount in favour of AI your stock price will jump significantly. Which is a metric all CEOs success is pinned to.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's the exact thing I'm alluding to. The information asymmetry and narrative contagion is the problem. But these companies are unlikely to be the ones that will come out successful in the long run, but lifting that veil can take a long time
DeleteAgree with the post. Well thought through and well written - thanks.
ReplyDeleteI also think this is a marketing pitch to their customers in itself. 'Adopt our AI - look at how much we ourselves have been able to reduce headcount & opex by using it' . Will it drive short term product adoption? It might. Long term ARPU growth - doubt it.
AI replacing productivity is also a great cover for desired layoffs that would occur anyway
ReplyDeleteThis is the best take on this I've seen. The information asymmetry point is key.
ReplyDeleteI build AI systems for small businesses and the dirty secret is: real AI integration is boring. It's months of data cleaning, workflow mapping, edge case handling, and testing. None of that looks good in a press release.
What looks good? "We replaced 50 people with AI." Wall Street loves a clean narrative. And right now "AI layoffs" IS the narrative, regardless of whether the actual AI capabilities justify it.
I've seen companies announce AI transformations that were literally just ChatGPT Team subscriptions. The stock bumped anyway.
The companies actually doing this well aren't announcing layoffs. They're quietly making their existing teams 3x more productive and hiring MORE people because the bottleneck shifts from execution to opportunity identification.
The signal game only works until the results start showing up in earnings. Give it 2-3 quarters.
Nonsense. Layoffs mean cost reduction, which is always good for any company. So, a positive reaction in the stock price is expected.
ReplyDeleteAlso, demand doesn't necessarily grow with productivity gains, so more layoffs are expected in any saturated sector or any company unable to grow for some reason.
So let's lay off every employee and worker of every company then, it will surely reduce costs! What could go wrong if I only look at one side of the business?
DeleteI agree with most of this, but part of me buys into the narrative Dorsey lays out. It may be giving him too much credit, but consider a company with 10,000 employees: if half have already adopted AI into their daily workflow and the other half hasn't, you’re going to see a tale of two diverging productivity curves. While I’m doubtful we’ll see the immediate removal of all white-collar jobs, it’s inarguable that a workforce is more productive with AI. Beyond that, it sends a clear signal to employees to step up: they need to build automation workflows and leverage these tools simply to keep pace with an increasingly heavy workload. AI isn't necessarily a "get off work early" tool, but rather a "raise the ceiling of what is expected" tool.
ReplyDeletethere's always workplace productivity increase. it happens all the time.
DeleteIf you are an SDE, our engineering productivity is always increased year or year.
This is one of the better takes on the situation. Was in management consulting for a long time and this tracks with what often occurs. One of the worst developments ever was the tighter and tighter correlation of exec comp to stock. In theory this aligns them…in reality it does not as the stock market is not a very good indicator or reward for actual long term strategy growth.
ReplyDeleteI think it was fatalistic, gross over optimistic fancy projects that made tech firms to hire huge numbers. Now that the projects are stalling, these firms want to right size, and fire workers. AI bogey is a scapegoat and fall guy.
ReplyDeletewow didn’t expect it to hit 15% that fast
ReplyDeleteFire 4,0000 people then offer the remaining employees huge retention bonuses & pay increases so they don’t quit … can Jack Dorsey be anymore gross 🤮
ReplyDeleteboo
ReplyDeletecrazy move
ReplyDeleteIt won't be the economy that will do in investors; it will be the investors themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis is the effect of the singularity
ReplyDeleteCapitalism is in a death spiral. We are at the point where the virus is killing the host. When companies did poorly people got fired. Now when companies are booming people will still get fired. There’s zero job security and mass layoffs. And in the long run the economy crumbles.
ReplyDeleteTo those who are staying...build with me! And then when you are done building and the next bunch of AI tools show up you will also be canned.
ReplyDeletehow the fuck does this guy sleep at night "intelligence at the core of everything we do" referring to ai over humanity is so incredibly insulting to these workers
ReplyDeleteno amount of dragging out this decision saves you from being "cold"
Wow crazy time
ReplyDeleteIs it really because of AI? Or is it just a way to create a good story for the capital market?
ReplyDeletetough call
ReplyDeleteGo big or go home.LFG！
ReplyDeleteI understand.
ReplyDeleteBut what will happen to us
if people don't promote people?
Jack: 'Stepping down to spend more time with my new CEO… the one that doesn’t need sleep or salary.' Block stock: 🥲😳🤥
ReplyDeleteCovid over-hiring + AI efficiency gains are not mutually exclusive. Dorsey's smart to frame the correction as a technology opportunity rather than a reckoning. The companies that tell the same story as a failure are going to struggle to attract the talent they actually need.
ReplyDeleteGenerous severance.
ReplyDeleteAI compression of labor in real time
ReplyDeletehttps://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExam8yc2t2Z3gydG14cmVieTVxdHJud3lldTcxa3Z2M2xzMTE1aG5uOSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/enCWEo0vG25Ow/giphy.gif
ReplyDeleteLeading the path, most will follow.
ReplyDeleteTime will reveal: AI is replacing humanity as alpha species.
Embracing AI only accelerates transition.
Resisting AI only delays inevitable.
More logical course: find your true self, purpose, meaning, pleasure.
Then nurture it to flourish.
La empresa no va tan bien. Ver su gráfica
ReplyDeleteWhy not make sure they have shares of stock in the company that will offset the loss in income? As long as the company is profitable, they are still compensated for their labor based investment.
ReplyDeleteFounders will always prefer pleasing the shareholders than treating their employees the right way
ReplyDeleteOne of the major reasons as an employee make sure you have a plan B incase something like this happens you'll have something to fall upon.
ReplyDeleteWhat is blocks
ReplyDeleteAI is short form for all india outsourcing …
ReplyDeleteIt’s the time to build your own project now
ReplyDeleteElon AI
ReplyDeleteAI is going to destroy the world. Enjoy life now. It’ll be over soon
ReplyDeleteI don’t get it, why is everyone acting like NPCs?
ReplyDeleteLongest waffle I’ve seen in a long long time!!
ReplyDeleteI have to say, this is one of the more well-handled CEO messages I’ve seen in situations like this.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone wonder why employee loyalty to their employer is at its lowest level in history.
ReplyDeletefag
ReplyDeleteI used to work at Yahoo and Jerry Yang had the same lowercase writing style. It's childish and makes people think they are working for someone who has the maturity of a 12 year old girl
ReplyDelete