Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has pushed back against the idea that Block’s massive layoffs signal an AI-driven jobs apocalypse, suggesting Jack Dorsey’s fintech giant has company-specific problems that don’t reflect the broader market. “Obviously, that company has its own unique issues. We all know that, so let’s put that aside,” Benioff told CNBC on Wednesday. “These pronouncements of these mass white-collar layoffs: I just do not see it.”His comments came days after Dorsey announced plans to cut around 4,000 employees—roughly 40% of Block’s workforce—citing rapid advances in AI tools as the driving force. Block’s stock surged over 20% following the announcement, with investors cheering the cost-cutting move even as employees reeled from the scale of it.
Benioff argues AI can boost productivity without triggering sweeping job cuts
Benioff said he believes AI can drive efficiency gains without the kind of wholesale restructuring Dorsey carried out. He pointed to Salesforce’s own results—12% growth at scale, approaching $50 billion in revenue—as evidence that companies can integrate AI without gutting their headcount.That said, Benioff isn’t exactly clean on the layoffs front himself. Salesforce cut roughly 4,000 roles last year, including in customer support, after AI tools reduced the need for human agents. The company conducted another round of cuts in February affecting fewer than 1,000 employees. But Benioff framed those as targeted efficiency moves, not a blanket restructuring.
Block’s headcount ballooned during the pandemic—and skeptics say that’s the real story
Block’s situation looks different. The company grew from 4,000 employees in 2019 to nearly 13,000 by end of 2023 during a pandemic-era hiring spree. It had already gone through multiple rounds of layoffs in 2024 and 2025 before Dorsey announced the latest 40% cut.Former employees and Wall Street analysts have questioned whether AI was truly the catalyst—or just a convenient narrative for trimming years of organisational bloat. Mizuho Americas analyst Dan Dolev was blunt: “The vast majority of these cuts were probably not due to AI.”Former Block employee Jason Karsh put it more colourfully on X: “This isn’t an AI story. It’s organisational bloat wearing an AI costume.”Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, meanwhile, took a middle path when asked about the Block cuts. He said he hadn’t “really digested” the specifics but acknowledged AI would reduce headcount across industries—while insisting new roles would eventually emerge, as they have with every major tech shift.
