Twitter co-founder and Block (formerly Square) CEO Jack Dorsey isn’t your typical corporate suit. For one thing, he doesn’t wear them all the time. He brings “World peace” while supporting your favorite technology like crypto. No one really knows where he lives. He often meditates and has a long beard. He comes across as more of a new age guru than a CEO.
So maybe it was great that, when Dorsey announced he was laying off 4,000 workers at the Block, he was wearing a hat that said “LOVE” in capital letters.
Was the “love” hat tone deaf? This may seem like a foolish idea compared to Dorsey’s broader concern about eliminating about 40 percent of his company’s workforce, especially given his explanation that AI prompted the cuts.
But his choice of attire apparently angered at least one employee at a company meeting after Dorsey announced the layoffs, leading to wired to ask in an interview If “compassionate layoffs” were actually possible.
Dorsey, always the romantic, argued that it was. In fact, he seemed to suggest that that was exactly what he was trying to do.
“I don’t think it’s an impossible task,” he said. wired. “I wanted to look at the whole situation lovingly.”
She added, “We had all hands on deck where they could show me all the emotions and give me feedback.” “I believe our agreement is generous compared to the rest of the market. I wanted to do it from a position of strength, so that we don’t end up offering less interesting severance packages to people when our backs are against the wall.”
you hear that? “Love” means kicking someone, or four thousand people, to the curb – while making sure they don’t fall too hard on the asphalt anyway.
Asked about the massive layoffs undertaken by his foe Elon Musk after buying Twitter – which left more than 6,000 people dead, he claims – Dorsey acknowledged it.
“Twitter was a public company that has now become a private company, loaded with huge amounts of debt,” Dorsey said. wired. “Elon was able to dramatically change the business model, which is what he needed to do. I’m grateful for all of that. I think Twitter should have been private for a while.”
Dorsey’s layoff raised fears that AI was beginning to eliminate white-collar jobs. In his announcement, Dorsey explained that the “intelligence” tools were creating “a new way of working” with smaller teams. Under this new paradigm, he meant, you have to stay competitive by adopting AI and lean organizations. However, experts and a former employee have argued that AI’s shining promises are being used to overshadow decisions that are driven by other financial factors – such as hiring more during COVID.
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