Sweden's Klarna Says AI Chatbots Help Shrink Workforce

Swedish payments group Klarna announced that it had reduced hundreds of jobs and anticipates further reductions as it implements AI to handle customer queries, stating that chatbots can sharply reduce the time needed to resolve issues, Supantha Mukherjee reported for Reuters.

Klarna said its AI assistant was performing the work of 700 employees, reducing the average resolution time from 11 minutes to just two. I Image: Klarna

The "buy now, pay later" company, widely expected to seek a stock market listing next year, has been one of the early adopters of GenAI to cut costs and boost productivity.

The company, which reported a first-half adjusted profit of 673 million Swedish crowns ($66 million), said its AI assistant was performing the work of 700 employees, reducing the average resolution time from 11 minutes to just two.

"About 12 months ago, we had about 5,000 active positions within the company, and we are now down to about 3,800," CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in an interview, adding that almost all of the reduction had been achieved through attrition, not layoffs.

"By simply not hiring, which we haven't done since September... the company is kind of becoming smaller and smaller," he added. Average revenue per employee over the past 12 months has increased by 73%, rising from 4 million crowns to 7 million.