Jack Dorsey’s Block has started to rehire select employees after rolling out job cuts that reduced its workforce by nearly half.
According to a series of LinkedIn posts, a few employees said they were let back into Block with multiple reasons offered for the Layoffs, including one manager (Technical lead Richard Hesse) who threatened to leave the company if his team member was not hired again. One employee was informed that he was fired due to a clerical error.
“I spent a lot of Monday and Tuesday convincing leadership that my coworkers are necessary for the company’s success and that I couldn’t do this job alone. I’m happy to share that they listened to my requests and have decided to re-hire some of the those laid off. While my teams were not returned to full levels, I’ll have enough to continue on,” Richard Hesse on LinkedIn.
In a bid to become more efficient, Jack Dorsey said he would be conducting mass layoffs in February as AI systems in the company could now make relatively leaner teams do the same amount of work. The trend of layoffs due to AI is now a common one in the industry, as CEOs in Silicon Valley now recognize the prospects of efficiency.
Rather than lay off people gradually, Jack Dorsey opted to lay off multiple employees in one go.
“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. a smaller company also gives us the space to grow our business the right way, on our own terms, instead of constantly reacting to market pressures,” said Dorsey on X, at the time of the layoffs.
At the time of writing, Block shares were priced at $57.84.