In February, billionaire Block (XYZ) founder and CEO Jack Dorsey laid off 40% of his workforce as part of an AI-driven efficiency push.
A string of job cuts followed
Tech execs fine-tuned their slide decks in subsequent management meetings, then uncorked headline-making mass layoff announcements of their own, blaming AI for reducing headcount. The former Twitter founder is back with more news as tech firms eye further AI-driven efficiency gains. The news: Dorsey says he isn’t done removing management layers at Block and changing the job requirements of a modern-day manager. “So like right now … we’re about five layers deep.
I would love to get that down to two to three by the end of the year,” Dorsey said at a JPMorgan conference on Tuesday. He was referencing the number of organizational layers beneath him. Dorsey said that in the future, managers should be assigned to groups of potentially hundreds of people rather than to a single team. “You’re focused on helping [workers] get to mastery of their discipline and helping them think through their career and like how to think about problems and see around corners … but you don’t have to like tell them what to do.