Klarna to cut its workforce by 10%

It comes during a revision of its plans for the upcoming financial year due to the “more volatile” economic environment than when it made its business plans in 2021 - stating that it’s now time to “consolidate and capitalise” on the “strong foundations” it has established. 

Explaining this, the firm’s chief executive and co-founder Sebastian Siemiakowski said: “When we set our business plans for 2022 in the autumn of last year, it was a very different world than the one we are in today. 

“What we are seeing now is not temporary or short-lived, and hence we need to act. More than ever, we need to be laser-focused on what really will make us successful going forward. 

“Based on this, the senior leaders of Klarna have made some really tough decisions, some of the hardest ones we have ever had to make. We have re-evaluated our organisational setup to make sure we can continue to deliver on our ambitious goals.” 

Given the macroeconomic shifts and headwinds that are impacting its consumers’ daily lives, it has tightened its lending parameters. 

Overall, in the first three months of 2022 Klarna saw a 60% year-on-year drop in the number of active consumers it has, decreasing to 150 million. In addition to this, the firm reported further negative operating results, dropping year-on-year from -796,365 Swedish Krona (SEK) (-£65,052) to -SEK2.5m (-£207,343).