“"We stopped hiring about a year ago. We were 4,500, now we're 3,500... People stay about 5 years — so 20% leave every year — and by not hiring, we're simply shrinking." AI is already doing the work of hundreds of staff, and headcount will keep falling through natural attrition rather than layoffs.”

Sebastian SiemiatkowskiCEO

Co-founder and CEO, Klarna

Headcount did keep shrinking by attrition — Siemiatkowski said in May 2025 the company had gone from about 5,000 to 'almost 3,000' — but the 'stopped hiring entirely' framing did not hold: Klarna continued advertising open roles and in 2025 began rehiring human customer-service agents after AI service quality disappointed.