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Nearly half of the employees currently working at "buy now, pay later" startup Klarna could be replaced by AI in the next few years.
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told The Financial Times last week that the company aims to almost halve its workforce within the next few years, from 3,800 people to 2,000. Instead of layoffs, the company will continue its hiring freeze that started in September and not hire replacements for people who leave the company.
"By simply not hiring, which we haven't done since September ... the company is kind of becoming smaller and smaller," Siemiatkowski stated. He pointed out that the average revenue per Klarna employee had increased by 73% year-over-year.
The remaining employees will have AI to help with tasks, Siemiatkowski said.
Related: There Are New Rules for 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Programs — Here's What to Know
"Not only can we do more with less, but we can do much more with less," he told the Financial Times.
Klarna's employees numbered 5,000 one year ago, but departing employees and the AI-induced hiring freeze have cut the company down to its current size.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski. Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Klarna
Klarna claimed in February that its AI assistant did work equivalent to 700 full-time, human customer service agents. The AI assistant brought down customer inquiries to two minutes, compared to the previous 11-minute average conversation needed with human agents.
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 spent $6 million less.
Klarna's second-quarter earnings report for 2024 showed its third consecutive quarter of growth in the U.S., with revenue and operating income up 17% and 21% year-over-year respectively.
Klarna is reportedly exploring a U.S. IPO at a valuation of $20 billion.
