Jack Dorsey-led Block rehires some employees following 4,000+ layoffs
What's the story
Block has rehired a few of its employees who were laid off in February. The rehired employees come from different departments such as engineering and recruiting. Some were brought back soon after the layoffs while others returned later in March. The company's decision to rehire these workers comes after a major round of layoffs that affected nearly 40% (or over 4,000) of its workforce.
Acknowledgment
We may have gotten some layoff wrong: Dorsey
Jack Dorsey had admitted the possibility of errors in the layoff process in his first message to employees. He wrote, "I accept that we may have gotten some of them wrong, and we've built in flexibility to account for that, and do the right thing for our customers." This admission came after Block's decision to cut around 40% of its workforce.
Rehire stories
Layoff was a 'clerical error'
Andrew Harvard, a design engineer at Block, revealed that his layoff was a "clerical error." He said he was offered an opportunity to return and accepted it. Matt Morris, a recruiter for the company, described his post-layoff week as a "whirlwind." After being advocated by his manager all the way to CEO, Block decided to bring him back on board.
Gratitude expressed
Rennie expresses relief at being rehired
Chane Rennie, the creative strategy lead at Block, recently took to social media to express his relief at being rehired by the company. Richard Hesse, who joined Block through its Weebly acquisition and wasn't directly affected by the layoffs but saw his entire team laid off, initially threatened to leave unless given a solid contract and his teams were rehired.