Naoko Takeda, a former data scientist at Block's Cash App, publicly rejected a 75% pay raise and retention bonus after the company laid off over 4,000 employees. In a LinkedIn post, Takeda described the offer as 'shameful and dehumanizing,' writing that seeing her company discard half her peers while doubling her pay felt like an insult rather than an honor.

Business Insider reviewed messages from multiple Block employees who received retention packages, including $80,000 and $60,000 bonuses paid in quarterly installments. Takeda's retention package represented a 90% total increase when factoring in a one-time bonus. She estimated about 70% of her immediate team was impacted by the cuts, leaving only a new hire who had started three days earlier.

Block CEO Jack Dorsey defended the layoffs on an earnings call, citing AI efficiencies and predicting 'all companies will eventually' embrace the trend. Takeda pushed back on Dorsey's remarks, stating she saw 'very limited gains in productivity' from AI tools that were 'shoved down everyone's throats.' Multiple laid-off Block employees told Business Insider that despite fully embracing AI, they still faced sweeping cuts, with one describing feeling like 'a horse and buggy in the age of the automobile.'