Klarna fires 10% of its team. ‘Current challenges could slow plans in Portugal’

  • ECO News
  • 25 May 2022

The Swedish fintech had announced its intention to set up a hub in Portugal and to hire 500 employees over several years. It is preparing to move to a new office in July.

Klarna will lay off about 10% of its employees. The decision was made known this week shortly after the Swedish fintech announced its intention to open a hub in Lisbon and to hire up to 500 employees over the years. Klarna guarantees it is committed to the Portuguese market.

“While the current challenges may slow down our plans in Portugal, we remain committed to developing our presence in Lisbon and with our Portuguese partners and consumers,” an official fintech source told ECO.

The announcement was made to employees earlier this week by CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski, in a pre-recorded video message. Siemiatkowski said the decision is mainly due to market constraints.

“We are strongly influenced by the outside world. When we set our goals for 2022 in the autumn, it was a very different world than the one we have today,” he said, quoted by Sifted.

“That is why we need to act. More than ever, we need to show laser focus on what really makes us successful in the future. Based on this, the senior leadership at Klarna has made some tough decisions. Some of the toughest we’ve ever had to take. Together, we have re-evaluated the organisation to ensure that we can continue to deliver on our ambitious goals.”

Last week the Wall Street Journal had reported that Klarna was seeking a new round of funding – the goal would be to raise at least $1 billion of capital – but that could lower the fintech’s valuation from $46 billion to $30 billion.

Klarna to move in July

The company’s announcement comes at a time when, in Lisbon, the startup is preparing to move to a new home in July: Idea Spaces São Sebastião, ECO confirmed with the company.

“Klarna currently has a team comprising 20 people in Portugal, and is starting the recruitment process, with campaigns dedicated to attracting new talent in the coming weeks and months. To this end, it is looking for an office and workspace that is expandable and can accommodate the Lisbon-based team,” an official fintech source tells ECO.

“Klarna is starting the recruitment process and the plan is to start with a smaller office, but one that has the growth potential to keep up with the growth of the team. Similar practices have been successfully used in the launch of new Klarna offices in other cities, such as Madrid and Toronto,” he continues.

In Lisbon, Klarna is currently in two private offices at Idea Spaces – at Palácio de Sotto Mayor – but will “move, in July, to a larger space that, can keep up with the growth of the team, at Idea Spaces São Sebastião”, confirms an official source from the startup.

The fintech company plans to hire 500 employees over several years, mainly for product development roles, including engineers, product managers and analysts.