'Not hired for years' | At Klarna, AI drives pay rises and replaces departing employees

Klarna says artificial intelligence has allowed it to raise staff salaries by nearly 60% over three years, even as the buy now, pay later firm signals it may shrink its workforce again after already cutting thousands of roles. 

The company’s latest figures show how deeply AI is reshaping its operations, with more work being automated and fewer employees being replaced when they leave.

AI takes on hundreds of roles at Klarna

Chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski told analysts that Klarna’s headcount had dropped from 5,527 to 2,907 since 2022, largely through standard attrition levels. But rather than replacing these employees, Siemiatkowski said that the company has not hired "for a few years”, with technology increasingly filling those roles previously held by staff.

An internal AI programme has also reduced Klarna’s reliance on outsourced workers, including those in customer service. The company said technology is now doing the work of 853 full-time employees, up from 700 earlier this year.