Jack Dorsey Just Told You What’s Coming: Don’t Be a Victim of the AI Efficiency Purge
Jack Dorsey’s Block to Lay Off 40% of Its Workforce in AI Remake - WSJ
Last week, Jack Dorsey announced that Block (the company behind Square and Cash App) is cutting over 4,000 people.
That's 40% of the company's entire workforce.
Gone.
But there’s something you need to know about this announcement-because this isn't a story about a struggling company trying to survive.
Block had a strong year.
Gross profit up 24% year-over-year. Cash App is growing at 33%. It was their strongest new volume year on record. Dorsey himself said it in the shareholder letter:
"2025 was a strong year for us."
Then he cut nearly half his people in one swoop.
Let that sink in.
Because if you've been telling yourself "my job is safe as long as my company is doing well," Jack Dorsey just made that assumption obsolete.
Let’s be clear. This is not the 2022-2023 tech layoff story.
Those were corrections, companies shedding the excess headcount they panic-hired during the pandemic.
This is something else entirely. And I’m calling it that AI EFFICIENCY PURGE.
This isn't a typical layoff. It's a restructuring from strength.
Traditional layoffs happen when companies are bleeding.
Revenue drops. Markets tank. Panic sets in. People get cut.
You know that story. You've seen it before. And most professionals have learned to read those warning signs.
The “AI Efficiency Purge” is different.
It happens when a company is winning and realizes it can win even harder with far fewer people.
It’s 10Xing efficiency and revenue, while axing OpEx.
Dorsey says it directly in his shareholder letter:
"A significantly smaller team, using the tools we're building, can do more and do it better."
There it is.
Not "we had to cut costs." Not "the market turned on us."
"We can do more with less."
That's a fundamentally different threat. And most professionals aren't prepared for it.
Jack told you what's coming next.
If that first quote was scary, this next part of Dorsey’s letter should stop you cold.
He doesn’t frame Block's decision as unique. He framed it as common.
His exact words:
"I don't think we're early to this realization. I think most companies are late. Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes."
Read that again.
The CEO of a major tech company-publicly, on the record-just told you that what happened at Block is coming to most companies within twelve months.
He didn't whisper it. He published it in a shareholder letter.
Most professionals will scroll past that line.
Don't be most professionals.
The old employment contract no longer applies.
Here's the truth that's hard to hear.
Your company's success and your career security are now officially decoupled.
Old Assumption: A thriving organization needs a growing team.
New Reality: AI allows a leaner team to generate more output, more profitably, at greater speed.
The jobs most at risk aren't the ones attached to failing companies.
They're the ones attached to efficient, repeatable, well-defined workflows inside otherwise healthy organizations.
Customer support. Operations. Mid-level management. Analyst functions. Roles that process, summarize, route, and report.
That's where the AI Efficiency Purge hits first.
Not because those professionals aren't valuable. But because their value was attached to volume. And AI has made volume cheap.
So what do you do with this information?
You don't panic. You prepare.
Here's where to start:
1. Audit your role honestly. How much of what you do daily is structured, repeatable, and process-driven? That's your exposure. Be honest with yourself, because your employer is already running this calculation.
2. Get clear on your human 30%. AI can handle roughly 70% of structured cognitive work. The remaining 30%-judgment, pattern recognition, strategic framing, influence, trust-that's what still commands a premium. If you can't articulate what your 30% is, you're invisible (click here to take the HigherLanding30 assessment if you’d like a preliminary snapshot of your own 30%).
3. Can you multiply your workload? Your competition can. AI is a force multiplier. The professionals who know how to use it are producing 2–3x the output at the same - or higher - quality. That changes everything. If you can’t increase your capacity while elevating your judgment, you’re competing at yesterday’s speed.
Click here to take the Higher Landing Thin-Slicing Assessment and see how sharp your real-time thinking actually is.
4. Stop hiding behind your title. "Senior Manager of X" is not a value proposition. In a leaner, AI-augmented organization, the question isn't what your title is. It's what problem you solve and what breaks without you. If you can't answer that clearly, a hiring manager-or your own leadership team-won't be able to either.
5. Build your personal brand before you need it. The professionals who land fastest after a disruption event are never the ones who started preparing the day they were let go. They're the ones who had already built a clear, compelling story about who they are, what they do, and why it matters. Once the axe falls, they can lean into that brand to pivot to their next position.
6. Accept that proactive is the only safe position. Reactive career management is over. The AI Efficiency Purge doesn't give notice. It doesn't wait for performance reviews. By the time the email hits your inbox, the decision has already been made.
One final thought.
I've spent years helping professionals understand that career security isn't something your employer gives you.
Career security isn’t granted. It’s built.
What happened at Block won’t be isolated. It’s a shift in how organizations operate.
The real advantage now belongs to professionals who move early.
Curious how others are thinking about this shift — are you seeing similar moves in your industry?
Register here for my next free live session and learn how to position yourself powerfully in light of these pivotal shifts - employed or not.