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Klarna’s Wall Street debut may have delivered a $15 billion valuation, but staff inside the fintech are focused on the firm's new RTO rules and have expressed their views in a unique way.
Business Insider reported that the Swedish company told employees last week it will require office attendance later this month, arguing that in-person work helps retain top performers who might otherwise move to firms emphasizing office culture.
Emoji backlash shows discontent
When the announcement was posted on a Slack channel with about 3,000 employees, comments were disabled, leaving staff only able to respond with emojis. Many did so, and the reactions largely signaled frustration.
The tally included 341 sad face emojis, 167 "no" emojis, and 149 sweat-drenched sad faces. Another 131 sad cats, 90 facepalms, 86 crying faces, and 73 clown emojis were used. A more whimsical tone emerged with 62 Homer Simpson “backing into a bush” emojis and 17 depicting a child sliding down a chute with the caption “bye.”
Only a small number offered support, with 19 thumbs-up and 14 rocket ship emojis.
Market scrutiny on IPO debut
Klarna’s new workplace policy coincided with news that its IPO price had been set at $40 per share ahead of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
For the quarter ending June 30, Klarna’s losses rose to $52 million from $7 million a year earlier, even as revenue increased to $823 million from $682 million. Executives said the company’s path to profitability, alongside its growth story, would be the true measure of IPO success.
Despite double-digit growth in users and gross merchandise value, reaching profitability remains a challenge for the buy-now-pay-later pioneer. Staff sentiment around its return-to-office mandate suggests that balancing investor confidence with employee engagement could be just as big a challenge.
