Afterpay's Marketing Team Decimated: How Block's AI-Driven Layoffs Are Reshaping the Industry

The Fallout from Block's Global Layoffs Hits Australia

The fallout from Block's global layoffs is hitting Australia hard, with a significant portion of marketing staff among the cuts. These layoffs have eliminated 60% of the company's local full-time roles, sending shockwaves through the industry.

Key Departures and Impact

Almost two dozen Australian staff working across marketing and communications at Block, Square, and Afterpay have taken to LinkedIn over the past week to announce they were among the 4,000 global cuts announced by Jack Dorsey. Leading the pack are its chief marketing officer, Joel Moran, and VP of advertising, Andrew Gilbert. Other senior roles affected include head of communications for Asia Pacific, Lucas Howe; director of client partnerships, Katie Gadsby; and creative director, Claire Simon, among others.

Collectively, this team is understood to have overseen an annual budget spanning US$100 million, with US$20 million spent on traditional marketing across ANZ while the remainder centered on partner marketing.

Afterpay's Rise and Marketing Legacy

Afterpay, an Australian-founded buy-now-pay-later provider, began in 2014. In 2022, it was acquired by US payments giant Block, formerly known as Square, in a deal worth roughly US$29 billion. Over the past decade, Afterpay established itself as a major player in the payments space, underpinned by a heavy marketing strategy and high-profile partnerships.

Notably, it collaborated with Ikea Australia, creating a playful "full Swede" campaign to promote Afterpay's availability in stores. Other high points include its #AfterpayRunway challenge on TikTok, which launched in October 2020, and its sponsorship of Australian Fashion Week between 2021 and 2023, and recently a partnership with Yahoo DSP.

In 2021, the company recruited Rebel Wilson to front a campaign where the Hollywood actress explains the Afterpay benefits to a customer out shopping.

The AI-Driven Restructuring

At the end of February, just days after Block's getaway strategy event in Australia, Jack Dorsey announced plans to cut 40% of the global workforce — roughly 4,000 staff. This will reduce the combined headcount of Block, Square, Cash App, Afterpay, and Tidal to less than 6,000 from 10,000. Dorsey wrote on Twitter:

"We're already seeing that the intelligence tools we're creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company. And that's accelerating rapidly."

Reflections from Impacted Staff

Impacted marketing and creative staff in Australia, some of whom had been with Afterpay for nearly a decade, have since reflected on the technology-fueled changes. Among them, Andrew Gilbert, who joined from Yahoo DSP last May, said on LinkedIn:

"I understand the business rationale. Markets shift. Companies refocus. But restructures aren't headlines, they're people. Teams who built something meaningful. Late nights. Ambition. Belief. Moments like this are a reminder that businesses are built by people, and people carry the real weight. As AI reshapes our industry, I'm excited by what it unlocks. But it won't replace judgment, conviction or the power of aligned teams."

Claire Simon, a creative director who had been with Afterpay for five-and-a-half years, wrote:

"I don't have my head in the sand; a seismic shift is happening in how we work. The future is uncertain. But I'm ready for it. I embrace everything that AI can offer to make me more efficient and productive. But AI can't replace human relationships."

A Block spokesperson in Australia did not comment by the time of publication.