Block Layoffs Ignite Online Firestorm: AI Disruption Or Just Plain Bad Management? - Stocktwits

Oh, how predictable. Another day, another CEO wheeling out the AI bogeyman to justify swinging the axe. Jack Dorsey, fresh from his Twitter meltdown, is now telling Block employees that 'AI tools changed company operations' — which is corporate-speak for 'we hired too many people during the bubble and now we need a scapegoat.' Dorsey gets to look forward-thinking while people pack their desks.

What's particularly rich is the framing: 'AI disruption or just plain bad management?' Mate, they're the same thing when you're in charge. The online debate is a sideshow; the real show is the steady drip-drip of every company claiming AI is the reason for layoffs, regardless of actual productivity gains.

This follows the pattern established by every tech CEO this year: announce layoffs, point at AI, wait for the stock to bump, then issue a bland statement about 'supporting affected employees.' Jack Dorsey's defence is the same script, just with slightly more beard-stroking. The gallows humour writes itself: Block laid off people so it could focus on building the future, and the future apparently involves fewer humans doing the work. Cheers, Jack — the irony is almost as sharp as the severance cheque, if there is one.