As artificial intelligence becomes more integral to contemporary business, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski warned that the AI revolution may trigger a short-term recession as thousands of white-collar jobs are wiped out.
Klarna Staff Decreases as AI Steps In
Klarna, the most popular name for its "buy now, pay later" payment methods, has led the way in using AI in its business. In the past two years, the Swedish fintech firm has reduced its staff from approximately 5,500 workers to just 3,000. Siemiatkowski credited a lot of the drop in staff to the efficiency boost through the use of AI.
In an interview with The Times Tech podcast, Siemiatkowski admitted that AI will have an implication for the particular workforce.
"Unfortunately, I don't see how we could avoid that, with what's happening from a technology perspective," he said.
One of the riskiest gambles by Klarna occurred in February 2024, when it revealed that an AI assistant built in collaboration with OpenAI was processing workloads comparable to 700 full-time customer support workers. This swift switch reduced the company's expenses, but it also raised red flags for the wider labor market implications.
AI Hiring Freeze and Course Correction
According to Business Insider, Klarna also instituted a hiring freeze in 2023 to continue streamlining operations as it moved toward automation. Siemiatkowski even made the bold claim back then that AI could perform "all of the jobs" that humans do — a polarizing opinion that is continuing to stir public argument.
But by May 2025, the fintech CEO had appeared to temper his stance. While delivering a speech at Klarna's Stockholm headquarters, he acknowledged that the company might have overemphasized reliance on AI, acknowledging that consumers still appreciate human contact.
Klarna went on to indicate plans to resume hiring, a step designed to achieve more balance between automation and personal touch.
Tech Industry Divided Over AI's Labor Impact
While Siemiatkowski is one of the few CEOs openly addressing the economic threats of AI, he's not alone in his concerns.
Dario Amodei, CEO of AI startup Anthropic, recently stated that up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs could vanish within five years due to AI advancements. He urged the government to stop sugar-coating this fact.
Anthropic's Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger echoed these sentiments, adding that firms are increasingly choosy in their recruitment. As per Krieger, newbie engineers are being passed over for hire by skilled developers who can work more effectively alongside AI tools.
Can AI Make Work More Meaningful?
In the face of impending job loss, Krieger provided some hope. He posited that AI would, in the end, free humans to work on more creative, strategic, and meaningful tasks. Instead of merely repeating tasks, humans might turn to creating workflows, optimizing user experiences, and managing AI-generated output at scale.
As for Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, AI is here to stay. The businessman said that AI will not kill jobs, and Google will promote hiring instead of firing employees.
Originally published on Tech Times
