Sweden · Customer service · 27 February 2024
Klarna
Chat assistant took on work of 700 employees.
- Status
- Partly reversed
- Roles
- 700
- The door
- Answering customer service chats and routine queries
- Last checked
- 21 October 2026
- Next review
- 21 April 2027
Reported
What the sources say. Each statement ends with a note that carries its quote.
The role
Klarna said its AI assistant had been responsible for two-thirds of customer service chats.1 The assistant was to support customers with refunds, returns, payment-related issues, cancellations, disputes and invoice inaccuracies.2 Klarna said customers could still choose to interact with live agents.3
The change
Klarna said the assistant was completing the work of 700 employees.1 Klarna said its query resolution time had dropped from 11 minutes to two minutes.4
In December 2023, Klarna’s chief executive said the company was not currently hiring at all, apart from engineers.5 Klarna cut its workforce from 5,000 to 3,800 during 2023.6 Klarna said changes to its workforce were largely due to natural attrition.7
What happened next
On 9 May 2025, Retail Systems reported that Klarna’s chief executive told Bloomberg that the company’s AI-driven job cuts had gone too far.8 Klarna was testing a new group of staff in an Uber-type setup who could log in, work remotely and take up customers’ requests.8
The chief executive said the business was planning a recruitment drive so that customers could speak to a real person rather than a chatbot.9 He said cost seemed to have been too predominant an evaluation factor and that the result was lower quality.10
Open questions
- Will Klarna report how many people it hires for customer service, and in what roles?
- Will Klarna publish updated figures for the assistant’s performance or customer satisfaction?
- Does the remote human agent pilot expand or end?
Footnotes
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“Indeed, Klarna stated the assistant had been responsible for two-thirds of customer service chats and was completing the work of 700 employees.” ↩ ↩2
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“As the name suggests, Klarna’s assistant will be available at all times and will provide customer service support for an array of prevalent problems, including refunds, returns, payment-related issues, cancellations, disputes, and invoice inaccuracies.” ↩
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“While the fintech was also clear to point out that customers could ‘still choose to interact with live agents if they’d prefer’, it is apparent that Klarna is all in on AI.” ↩
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“Moreover, the financial service company revealed its query resolution time had dropped from 11 minutes to just two minutes while customer satisfaction scores remained steady.” ↩
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“The success of the virtual agent follows an announcement made by Siemiatkowski back in December of 2023 that Klarna would be freezing hiring in order to pursue AI alternatives, with the Co-Founder and CEO stating that the company was ‘not currently hiring at all, apart from engineers.’” ↩
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“The FinTech, which cut its workforce from 5000 to 3800 during 2023, said it was expecting more dramatic reductions.” ↩
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“Klarna said that changes to its workforce were largely be attributed to natural attrition, including due to resignations, sickness, or retirement, but that AI would play a role in the next cutback.” ↩
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“But in an interview with Bloomberg, the company’s chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski admitted that Klarna’s AI-driven job cuts have ‘gone too far’, with the FinTech now testing a new cohort of staff ‘in an Uber-type of setup’ that can log in and work remotely and take up customers’ requests as representatives of the bank.” ↩ ↩2
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“Siemiatkowski also revealed that the business is planning a recruitment drive so that people using its customer services have the option of speaking to a real person rather than a chatbot.” ↩
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“‘As cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organising this, what you end up having is lower quality,’ Siemiatkowski said.” ↩
The doorman reading
Analysis. This is the site’s reading of what the sources describe, not something they say.
What they said
What the organisation said the change would do, in its own words.
“Indeed, Klarna stated the assistant had been responsible for two-thirds of customer service chats and was completing the work of 700 employees.”
“But in an interview with Bloomberg, the company’s chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski admitted that Klarna’s AI-driven job cuts have “gone too far”, with the FinTech now testing a new cohort of staff “in an Uber-type of setup” that can log in and work remotely and take up customers’ requests as representatives of the bank.”
Timeline
Every update, oldest first.
Changelog
Corrections, and when the case was last looked at.
No corrections so far.
Last checked 21 October 2026. No new reports since 9 May 2025.
Sources
Each source has an archived copy, so a statement can be checked after a page changes.
CX Today
Klarna Claims Its New AI Assistant Does the Work of 700 Full-Time Agents
29 February 2024 · Report · Archived copy
Retail Systems
Klarna CEO 'to hire new staff' for customer service arm
9 May 2025 · Report · Archived copy