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Layoffs at Block

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Re: Layoffs at Block

#141

Post by simianwords »

overfeed wrote: post #116

> i'd rather take a hard, clear action now and build from a position we believe in than manage a slow reduction of people toward the same outcome. I hope this gets drilled into the heads of everyone who sells their labor. The company is profitable, and Jack could have kept 4000 people employed with no difference in outcome, instead, he chose this.

i don't think this is true.

assuming $150,000 average salary thats around $600,000 totally so that increases the yearly profit by about 30%.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#142

Post by tempest_ »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #135
n2d4 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what sense did CashApp not pan out? $16b revenue. Too early to say whether Afterpay will work out but looking good so far

CashApp was launched in 2013, long before Zelle and other instant payment rails arrived, which closed wallet providers solved for (Venmo too, owned by...Paypal). There is little growth to be had when these customers can get free deposit accounts with access to Zelle or FedNow to move value for free instantly. It's success to be sure to accumulate the cashflow from the customer base built, but it isn't lasting.

It also solves an exclusively American problem. In my country anyone can send money bank to bank, no need for a separate service.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#143

Post by hirako2000 »

r-w wrote: post #134
overfeed wrote: post #116

> i'd rather take a hard, clear action now and build from a position we believe in than manage a slow reduction of people toward the same outcome. I hope this gets drilled into the heads of everyone who sells their labor. The company is profitable, and Jack could have kept 4000 people employed with no difference in outcome, instead, he chose this.

How magnanimous of him to let us all know of his magnanimity!

He could have been even more radical and get rid of himself, his lieutenants could ask gpt about the strategy.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#145

Post by toomuchtodo »

tempest_ wrote: post #142
toomuchtodo wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CashApp was launched in 2013, long before Zelle and other instant payment rails arrived, which closed wallet providers solved for (Venmo too, owned by...Paypal). There is little growth to be had when these customers can get free deposit accounts with access to Zelle or FedNow to move value for free instantly. It's success to be sure to accumulate the cashflow from the customer base built, but it isn't lasting.

It also solves an exclusively American problem. In my country anyone can send money bank to bank, no need for a separate service.

Absolutely, most of this is private corporate duct tape over a lack of Pix (Brazil), UPI (India), Instant SEPA (Europe), etc [1]. “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” [2] In a US financial services market, Venmo and CashApp are unnecessary assuming you procure a deposit account from a bank or credit union with instant payment rails access [3] [4]. Even Schwab has access to Zelle, for example. You need not extend credit and have credit risk exposure for paper checks anymore as well as an issuer of a deposit account.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_payment

[2] (widely attributed to Winston Churchill)

[3] https://enroll.zellepay.com/

[4] https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/fednow/organi...

Re: Layoffs at Block

#146

Post by davidw »

loktarogar wrote: post #128
thepasswordis wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that's just the reality of the market right now. Software engineers are an extremely hot field, likely because everybody is trying to add AI to their products. https://www.citadelsecurities.com/news-and-insights/2026-glo...

I'm an software engineer with 17 years experience and I can't even get an interview at most places I put my resume in to.

I'm being very picky with what I look at, which doesn't help, but yeah, it doesn't seem great. Maybe they're all in person gigs? Or is there some ageism? (There has always been some ageism in software)

Re: Layoffs at Block

#148

Post by toast0 »

Ancalagon wrote: post #94
toast0 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm a big capitalist, but 5 months of severance seems very generous; a job hasn't been a commitment that the company will take care of you forever in several generations. Covering you until the middle of this year should go a long way, and yeah the job market is messed up, but at least it's not mid-November where holidays mean hiring falls off the rails.

Just wondering, have you been unemployed for 6+ mos before?

Not really, no. I was underemployed for 6+ months at the start of my career, but it's easier to take whatever is available at that point. I did some data entry and then first tier ops desk restart the server when the light turns red stuff, before I got a "real job". Doing that mid career and keeping a good attitude would be difficult.

But I would think 5 months paid time before you have to go on state unemployment is significantly better than the WARN act minimum of 60 days of notice or pay or the alternative of a campaign to raise attrition. Looks like recent google/meta layoffs are 4 months, so it's 25% better than that. I always thought I wanted to get a package, but I recognize that I would probably not have been happy if it happened.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#149

Post by themgt »

MeetingsBrowser wrote: post #92
gusmally wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you don't think LLM impacts on productivity were a factor at all?

If LLMs really multiply productivity, why would you fire people and handicap the boost? I have 100 people that can now do the work of 200 people thanks to a new tool. How is the logical response to fire half of them and bring my productivity back to where it was before?

Demand inelasticity.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#150

Post by hirako2000 »

paxys wrote: post #101

Square/Block stock peaked at $273 in Feb 2021 and is currently at $54. Taking away the Covid bubble the stock has been completely flat since 2018, almost 8 years, while the S&P 500 returned nearly 200% in that same period. So I'm not buying the whole "the company is doing great! The layoff is just because of AI."

AI is the logical, counter proof reason, I feel it serves as a scapegoat so perfectly they pretend it replaces people.
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