Block, the tech company just cut 40% of its workforce.
Not because it's in trouble, but because AI can now do the work.
And it isn't alone. Look at what the biggest names in tech have done this year, and the reason they keep giving.
Block: around 4,000 roles gone. 40% of the company.
Oracle: 21,000 roles. Roughly 13% of its people.
Intuit: 3,000 roles. About 17%.
Meta: 8,000 roles. Around 10%.
Cisco: 4,000 roles. About 5%, and in a year it beat its profit forecast.
Pretty much the same sentence underneath every announcement: AI now does what those people used to do.
If firms with a hundred thousand staff and armies of process can strip out this much cost and capacity, the opportunity in a business doing £5m to £75m is bigger, not smaller.
You’re closer to the work, so you can see exactly where the hours go.
I'm a firm believer that good people are still your biggest asset.
For me, the lesson isn't "cut your team."
But headcount and output have already started to diverge. Growth no longer has to mean more bodies and more overheads.
I don't think any business owners believe that the winners in the next few years will be companies with the most staff.
They'll be the ones which built the systems so the business runs without its owners and enables the staff to radically increase productivity.
Has headcount and output started to come apart in your own business?
