Almost half of the workforce currently working at “buy now, pay later” Klarna may be replaced by AI in the next few years.
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siematkowski told the Financial Times last week that the company aims to almost halve its workforce over the next few years, from 3,800 to 2,000 people. Instead of layoffs, the company will continue its hiring process that began in September and will not be hiring to replace the people who are leaving the company.
“By simply not hiring, which we haven’t done since September … He pointed out that Klarna’s revenue per employee has increased by 73% year-on-year.
The rest of the workforce will have AI to help with tasks, Siematkowski said.
Related: There Are New Rules For ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Schemes – Here’s What You Need To Know
“It’s not just that we can do more with less, but we can do more with less,” he told the Financial Times.
Klarna’s workforce numbered around 5,000 one year ago, but employee departures and an AI-induced hiring freeze have reduced the company to its current size.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski. Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Klarna
Klarna said in February that its AI assistant has created the equivalent of 700 full-time, human customer service agents. The AI assistant has reduced customer inquiries to two minutes, compared to the previous average conversation of 11 minutes required with human agents.
Related: Klarna Says Its AI Assistant Does the Work of 700 People. The Company Laid Off The Same Number Of Employees In The Past 2 Years.
Siemiatkowski wrote in a now-deleted post on X in May that Klarna’s in-house marketing team was half the size it was last year, but was producing more with AI and spending $6 million less.
Klarna’s second quarter 2024 earnings report showed a third consecutive quarter of growth in the US, with revenue and operating income up 17% and 21% year-on-year respectively.
Klarna is reportedly exploring a US IPO worth $20 billion.
Source link
