Klarna, a fintech giant, hires none over a year, leverages AI to reshape workforce

Fintech giant Klarna, renowned for its "buy now, pay later" offerings, has dramatically shifted its workforce strategy, halting new hiring for over a year as it embraced artificial intelligence (AI) to handle operations.

Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski revealed the move in a Bloomberg interview, emphasizing that AI can now perform most tasks traditionally handled by humans.

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"We stopped hiring about a year ago, so we were 4,500 [employees], and now we're 3,500," Siemiatkowski stated. He explained the reduction was due to natural attrition, with approximately 20% of employees leaving annually. Instead of replenishing roles, Klarna has allowed its workforce to shrink while integrating AI tools into core operations.

Around 200 Klarna employees are now leveraging AI to enhance their productivity. Siemiatkowski assured employees that while AI adoption reduces overall salary costs, some of the savings would be reflected in higher paychecks. "We told employees, 'What's going to happen is the total salary cost of Klarna is going to shrink, but part of the gain will be seen in your paycheck,'" he said.

The Stockholm-based fintech company’s pivot highlights the growing role of AI in reshaping business models and workforce dynamics across industries.