Another major tech giant is axing thousands of jobs as it goes all in on artificial intelligence just one day after an Australian software company made the same move.
Digital payments company Block, which is led by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and is listed on the ASX, shared its plans to drastically restructure its operations using AI tools despite posting impressive results.
Mr Dorsey shared a letter to investors confirming the company is reducing Block by almost half from over 10,000 workers to just under 6000.
“Which means that over 4,000 people are being asked to leave or entering into consultation,” he said.
“Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company. We’re already seeing it internally.
“A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better. And intelligence tool capabilities are compounding faster every week.”
Mr Dorsey said Block was not early to the company’s realisation, rather “most companies are late”.
“Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes,” he said.
“I’d rather get there honestly and on our own terms than be forced into it reactively.”
Block also revealed its profit grew to US$2.87b in the final three months of 2025 while net income fell 55 per cent to US$1.3b.
The digital payments company’s share price has boomed off the back of this announcement, jumping almost 30 per cent on Friday.
Block owns a litany of payment technology giants including Afterpay, CashApp and Square.
It follows Australian tech giant WiseTech on Wednesday revealing plans to sack 2000 of its 7000 staff.
WiseTech told investors the tech company is venturing on with the next phase of its AI-driven “efficiency program” and expects to slash up to 50 per cent of its staff in some areas.
The company’s CEO Zubin Appoo said massive shifts were coming to the sector that will radically alter what the workforce looks like.
“Software development has experienced its most significant shift in decades,” Mr Appoo said.
“I am prepared to say this clearly: the era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over.
“AI amplifies the productivity of our expertise in logistics and trade, the rich datasets that WiseTech holds, and the network advantage that we have built over 30 years.”
These sackings will impact almost 30 per cent of WiseTech’s workforce and staffers will not be repurposed elsewhere in the company as there will not be a role for them.
Other major companies are also looking at AI, with some looking to cut roles and others trying to retain them.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia wants to embrace AI to bolster productivity while retraining staff for the burgeoning technology.
However, US e-commerce giant Amazon sacked 14,000 workers in October and revealed plans to axe another 16,000 in January.
