The rough start to 2024 for tech workers has continued as two financial technology giants with close Bay Area ties have begun laying off what will eventually include more than 3,000 employees.
Block, the financial technology company formerly called Square that was co-founded by tech billionaire Jack Dorsey, confirmed that it will be cutting its overall staffing by around 1,000.
The notifications of impacted employees started on Tuesday, and the company intends to enact an absolute headcount cap of 12,000 employees by the end of 2024. That compares with a total employee count of more than 13,000 at the end of the third quarter last year.
Block said that it plans to make the cuts based on performance measures and streamlining tasks and teams. In a November letter to shareholders, Dorsey underscored a focus on profitability in part by controlling costs.
Block has a scheduled earnings report for Feb. 22, where company leaders are expected to detail the progress of the layoffs.
PayPal Cuts 9%
In a letter to employees sent Tuesday, PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss announced that the San Jose-based payments company would lay off around 9% of its global workforce using a combination of direct layoffs and the elimination of open roles.
The letter mentions driving focus and efficiency, using automation and consolidating technology as some of the major goals of the workforce reduction.
In the company’s 2022 annual report, PayPal reported around 29,900 employees, and the job cuts are expected to impact more than 2,500 workers.
The layoffs represent the company’s second major round of layoffs over the last year. Last January, PayPal announced it was laying off around 2,000 employees under previous CEO Dan Schulman.
Chriss joined the company at the end of September after spending nearly two decades at competitor Intuit.
“[T]here is a lot of work to do–and 2024 marks a year of change, including some difficult but necessary decisions to get us to where we need to go,” Chriss wrote in the letter to employees.
PayPal’s earnings report is scheduled for Feb. 7.