Financial payment processing firm Block Inc., co-founded by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, has reportedly laid off more than 1,000 staff members.
According to a Jan. 30 report, Block fired a “large number of [its] teammates” in a single day to streamline operations at the financial firm.
The layoffs affected staff in the Cash App, Foundational and Square arms of Block, affecting roughly 10% of company employees.
“We decided it would be better to do it at once rather than arbitrarily space them out, which didn’t seem fair to the individuals or to the company,” said Dorsey in a note to Block staff. “When we know we need to take an action, we want to take it immediately, rather than let things linger on forever.”
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Several now former Block employees posted goodbye messages on LinkedIn. Shayna Bulluck, who worked as an internal mobility manager at the firm since March 2023, said:
“Am I surprised? Not entirely – the company gave us a heads up late last year that cuts were coming – but I certainly was hoping to the highest heavens that I, and my team, weren’t on the chopping block. Alas, the chopping block came calling.”
The staff cuts came roughly two months after Block announced plans to launch a self-custody Bitcoin (BTC) wallet.
The firm reported $5.62 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2023, with $44 million in profit on its Bitcoin holdings.
In the last three months, major U.S. companies have announced similar layoffs as part of efforts to cut costs, including asset manager BlackRock, live-streaming platform Twitch and PayPal.
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