Block Cuts 60% of Australian Staff in AI-Driven Restructure

Block, the parent company of Square, Cash App, and Afterpay, announced in late February 2026 plans to cut approximately 4,000 jobs globally, reducing its total workforce from over 10,000 to under 6,000 employees. Australia's marketing and communications teams have been among the hardest hit.

Senior Marketing Leaders Exit as Australian Headcount Falls by 60%

Nearly two dozen Australian marketing and communications professionals have announced their departures on LinkedIn following the restructuring. Senior roles eliminated include Chief Marketing Officer Joel Moran, VP of Advertising Andrew Gilbert, Head of APAC Communications Lucas Howe, Director of Client Partnerships Katie Gadsby, and Creative Director Claire Simon.

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The departing team collectively oversaw an annual marketing budget of approximately US$100 million, including US$20 million allocated to traditional marketing across Australia and New Zealand. Block's Australian spokesperson declined to comment on the layoffs. Affected Afterpay employees in Australia were offered severance packages starting at five months' pay.

"Restructures aren't headlines, they're people. Teams who built something meaningful. Late nights. Ambition. Belief," Andrew Gilbert wrote on LinkedIn following his departure.

AI Efficiency Cited as Driver, Not Financial Distress

CEO Jack Dorsey framed the cuts as a deliberate structural shift rather than a response to financial pressure. In his announcement, Dorsey stated: "We're already seeing that the intelligence tools we're creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company."

Block reported profitable growth at the time of the announcement, positioning the restructuring as a strategic bet on AI-augmented, leaner teams rather than a cost-cutting response to losses.

Former Creative Director Claire Simon acknowledged the broader shift on LinkedIn, writing that "a seismic shift is happening in how we work," while also cautioning that "AI can't replace human relationships."

Block's Third Consecutive Round of Cuts Since 2024

The February 2026 announcement is the largest in a series of restructuring rounds at Block. The company cut approximately 1,000 roles in January 2024, followed by roughly 931 roles in March 2025, before announcing the current reduction of approximately 4,000 positions.

Australian and New Zealand employment law requires that redundancies be justified as fair and reasonable, a compliance consideration for US-headquartered firms executing global restructuring mandates locally.

Block acquired Afterpay in 2022 for approximately US$29 billion. Afterpay's Australian marketing team had built a regional profile through campaigns including Australian Fashion Week sponsorships from 2021 to 2023, a collaboration with Ikea Australia, and a consumer campaign featuring Rebel Wilson.

Singapore Fintechs Move in the Opposite Direction

While Block dismantles its Asia-Pacific marketing leadership, some regional competitors are expanding theirs. Nium, a Singapore-headquartered payments fintech operating across 190-plus countries, appointed Danielle Gotkis as Chief Marketing Officer in early 2026. Standard Chartered also announced that Naveen Mallela will join as Global Head of Payments in May 2026, moving from JPMorgan Kinexys.

Block has not publicly announced how, or whether, its remaining global teams will manage marketing responsibilities across the Asia-Pacific region following the departures.