By Mark Maurer and Walden Siew

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Block warned that deep job cuts across companies will be unavoidable amid greater adoption of artificial intelligence.

After announcing a 40% workforce reduction last month, the payments company has found itself at the center of a debate spreading across American corporations over how extensively businesses should cut staff as AI tools increasingly take over certain tasks.

"It feels like the acceleration is actually only quickening and we are seeing, really, an inevitability at this point around productivity gains and what that means for us as a business," Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Amrita Ahuja said Tuesday at the WSJ CFO Council Summit here.

Block's chairman and co-founder, Jack Dorsey, cited rapidly improving AI models as the primary reason for laying off more than 4,000 people when the owner of Square and Cash App announced its layoffs.

Asked if she expects other companies to treat Block's layoff strategy as a template for their own, Ahuja said, "I think it's an inevitability. As a CFO, I think it's better to be a little bit early than to be too late here."

The company expects to generate $2 million in gross profit per employee this year, in the wake of the layoffs, Ahuja said. That's up from $1 million in 2025 and $750,000 in 2024. The average gross profit per employee for Block's competitors and the broader technology industry is about $500,000, she said.

"We had people coming out of the woodworks to find out how we built the confidence to do it, where we were on our AI journey and then how we actually thought about making reductions across the business," Ahuja said.

Block's AI implementation has dramatically improved the speed and iteration time of its engineering work, with so-called developer velocity increasing more than 40% from September 2025 to February 2026, Ahuja said. Developer velocity refers to the speed and efficiency with which software teams make high-quality code.

The cost savings from AI allow the company to reinvest in expenses such as AI infrastructure, tokens and AI-native employees, she said.

Other finance executives are weighing staff cuts, particularly for employees who are more resistant to gaining new technological skills.

"If you have a stubborn middle that's refusing to learn how to 10X their efficiencies and productivity, they're probably going to have to go," Gina Mastantuono, president and CFO at business-software provider ServiceNow, said in reference to companies in general in an interview at the event.

"But I bet the bulk of them are going to be able to absolutely lean in, understand the value, even if they don't today," she said.

Write to Mark Maurer at mark.maurer@wsj.com and Walden Siew at walden.siew@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 24, 2026 18:51 ET (22:51 GMT)

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