A tech professional who survived massive layoffs at Jack Dorsey’s fintech company Block says she decided to resign immediately, despite being offered a significant raise to stay.
The employee shared his experience in detail LinkedIn a post that has been garnering attention online ever since. Block recently laid off about 40% of its workforce, she said, and although she was not among those affected, she was deeply disturbed by the events.
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“My employer Block laid off 40% of their workforce last Thursday (2/26). I wasn’t affected…but I was affected. I decided to quit immediately and left the company the following day on 2/27. I figured a company that is capable of laying off half of their staff didn’t need a two week notice from me,” laid off, just another IC who could have easily written off 40% of Linkie.
She described the experience as emotionally difficult and said the sudden layoff destroyed most of her team within minutes.
“Extreme horror” after being fired
In her post, the tech professional explained that in about 10 minutes, nearly 70% of her immediate and related teams disappeared due to layoffs. Only she and the newly hired employee who had joined three days ago were left.
The situation left her dealing with what she described as overwhelming stress and survivor’s guilt.
She also criticized some of the company’s decisions, calling them disturbing and unfair to employees.
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“I’m willing to bet that many of those who were fired or still work at the Block are also mad. Anger is a sense of perceived injustice, a valid response to these events.”
75% salary increase offered to stay
According to the employee, Block tried to retain some of the remaining employees by offering large financial incentives.
“I’m not sure what the Retention Package looked like for others, but I personally was offered a ~75% raise (90% if you include the one-time bonus!). So basically I saw my company lay off half of my colleagues and double my salary.”
However, according to her, the offer was not a reward.
“I would rather see my peers keep their jobs than personally profit from their trauma. I have the immense financial privilege of being a permanently employed, healthy person with no dependents, but many of my peers have families to care for, medical bills, or visa issues that put them at risk of deportation.”
“I asked to be released”
The employee revealed that she even asked to be included in the layoffs, but was denied.
“Because really, why would you choose to leave with dignity when you see your entire team – the people you’ve worked hard to build a positive relationship with over the last year and a half – disappear?”
The AI-Based Redundancy Debate
Block founder Jack Dorsey previously told employees that the layoffs were part of a broader structural shift driven by artificial intelligence.
But the employee disputed this justification.
“So why did this happen? Block claims it’s because AI makes society so productive. Last year AI was shoved down everyone’s throats. It was all about AI. We were told to use AI as much as possible. It’s nothing short of dystopian to be forced to use the very tools that are accelerating the disappearance of jobs that don’t depend on productivity for our livelihoods. Personally, I’ve seen almost no gains from AI. to throw out half of a company’s workforce along with their institutional knowledge and expertise (bus factor, anyone?).
In conclusion, she criticized the situation of the employees who remained after the dismissal.
“So 40% of the staff had no choice but to take severance and leave. The remaining 60% of us were offered fat paychecks to stick around and clean up the mess our ‘leadership’ had created, all so we could continue to contribute to a future where AI leaves us all unemployed.”
“No thanks, I’m out!”
Last month, Jack Dorsey announced that Block would cut about 4,000 jobs as part of its restructuring. Despite the layoffs, he said the company remains financially stable and increasingly focused on building and using advanced “intelligence tools.”
