Klarna Stopped Hiring Because AI ‘Can Already Do All the Jobs,’ CEO Says

• Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski spoke about AI and the workforce.
• Siemiatkowski mentioned AI “can already do the entire jobs” people do.
• He mentioned Klarna stopped hiring a 12 months in the past regardless of the corporate promoting jobs on-line.

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski is all-in on synthetic intelligence on the fintech firm.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Siemiatkowski mentioned he is “of the opinion that AI can already do the entire jobs that we as people do.”

“It is only a query of how we apply it and use it,” he mentioned.

Klarna is a fee service that gives shoppers “purchase now, pay later” choices. Based on its web site, the corporate is related with greater than 575,000 retailers.

The elevated consideration round AI has raised issues about the way it will have an effect on careers and the office. A 2023 report by McKinsey & Firm estimated that 12 million American staff must change occupations by 2030 as AI know-how develops.

Throughout the interview, Siemiatkowski mentioned Klarna stopped hiring final 12 months.

“I believe what we have finished internally hasn’t been reported as broadly. We stopped hiring a few 12 months in the past, so we had been 4,500 and now we’re 3,500,” Siemiatkowski mentioned. “We’ve got a pure attrition like each tech firm. Individuals keep about 5 years, so 20% go away yearly. By not hiring, we’re merely shrinking, proper?”

Siemiatkowski mentioned his firm has instructed workers that “what is going on to occur is the overall wage value of Klarna goes to shrink, however a part of the achieve of that’s going to be seen in your paycheck.”

Though Klarna’s web site is promoting open positions on the time of writing, a spokesperson instructed Enterprise Insider the corporate isn’t “actively recruiting” to increase its workforce. Somewhat, Klarna is backfilling “some important roles,” primarily in engineering.