Block's Downsizing in Context
An overview of connected dilemmas.
The recent news that Block (the company that owns Square and Afterpay) is cutting its workforce from over 10,000 to under 6,000 caused a stir. You can read CEO Jack Dorsey's note to staff here.
Even though Block may have been suffering from Pandemic bloat and other non-AI-related issues, their news washed over the business world as, "omg, if everyone cuts 40% of their staff because of AI 🤯...."
This post is a frame for several subsequent posts, which will tackle parts of this conundrum in turn. They are, in rough logical sequence:
- In today's low-trust workplace, Generative AI is a Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's head. When will the thread snap, and your job be eliminated?
- GenAI doesn't replace jobs (yet), but it does knock out tasks.
- Knock enough tasks out of your job description and you and your employer better be flexible!
- And if your job can mostly be automated now, is your career doomed?
- If so, how can you train up for a new career before GenAI automates your next field?
- Also, how can organizations create the high-trust environment needed to lean in to AI together?
There are plenty of GenAI skeptics in the world, some of my friends included. But I'm convinced that GenAI is going to rock our worlds in ways we're not prepared for. So far, given what I know about the forces of Capitalism and business, I'm in the camp that believes we're headed toward the Great Unemployment and the undermining of Capitalism as we know it.
Unlikely as it may seem, the positive path out involves rebuilding trust, and having difficult conversations now that will greatly improve the outcomes down the road. The GenAI Tsunami may appear to be a technical phenomenon, but it is just as much a human one.
This article is cross-posted on Substack here, Medium here and LinkedIn here. It's also here in my Brain.