The co-author of the viral Citrini AI report sounds the alarm about the state of white-collar labor after a financial services firm abruptly slashed its workforce by nearly half.
On Thursday evening, Block CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the company was reducing its workforce from 10,000 to 6,000 in one go as it adopted intelligence tools.
News of the layoffs sent shockwaves across X, capturing the attention of Alap Shah, who laid out a scenario with Citrini Research in which the unemployment rate soared to 10.2% in 2028 as AI exceeded expectations.
In a new post on X, Shah says Dorsey set a precedent that his competitors and other CEOs cannot ignore.
“Consider what this does to Block’s competitive positioning, assuming nothing breaks. They can afford to significantly lower prices, and any competitor that doesn’t follow them in drastic layoffs will end up in an impaired competitive position. Competitive dynamics dictate that others must follow; this is a scary situation for the white-collar labor market.
This is precisely the dynamic we warned about in The Global Intelligence Crisis.”
Investor Balaji Srinivasan echoes Shah’s view, highlighting that Block made the very first AI cut.
“Jack is one of the greatest founders of all time. He created this platform that we’re all on, and has been early to many technological shifts. And Block was doing very well as a business.
So, for him to cut 40% of headcount in this way is a signal to everyone in tech: get good now. Become indispensable. Work nights and weekends. Learn the AI tools and raise your game. Or you might not make the cut, as an employee or as a company.
I know. That sucks. But capitalism is natural selection. The market is unforgiving because you are the market. After all, it’s not like you’re buying some random gallon of milk from the store; you’re always buying the best product at the best price.
So too for apps: your customers are always installing the best piece of code they can get. And because AI is going to create new winners, if you aren’t the best in your market, someone may become better with AI, particularly with the new agentic workflows.”
Binance founder Chanpeng Zhao (CZ) also chimes in, saying, “Reality: Learn to use AI to the max, or be laid off.”
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