𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐎𝐈 𝐨𝐟 “𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤

For the last two years, I’ve been saying: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑗𝑜𝑏𝑠, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 “𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒, 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑒.” Klarna’s and Sebastian Siemiatkowski’s workforce strategy, along with my own, is showing that there is proof this approach works.

Here’s the data:
• Klarna reduced its workforce significantly, from 4,500 employees to 3,500, in just one year.
• They achieved this not through layoffs but by 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 to take place.
• By combining this with 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, Klarna has maintained efficiency while avoiding the costs and disruption of hiring new employees to fill those gaps.

This is the kind of ROI enterprises need to prioritize, one that enhances operations without harming morale or creating fear among employees. Klarna’s results show how natural attrition, paired with strategic automation, can sustain the business and deliver value.

And let’s not overlook Klarna’s broader transformation:

• From their first transaction in 2005 to now serving 𝟖𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟓𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝟒𝟓 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬, Klarna continues to redefine what agility and scale mean in fintech.

When I talk about “not fire, don’t hire,” I mean focusing on 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 while strategically deploying AI and automation to handle the rest. It’s a win-win for businesses and employees.

This isn’t just about saving costs, it’s about creating trust, fostering innovation, and showing your workforce that technology works with them, not against them.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞? Could your organization benefit from “not fire, don’t hire”?

𝐌𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 #2025 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, is if your not taking this approach in your own companies than just wait until you see how fast companies will do the same and do so by 𝟏𝟎𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐈 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐀𝐒 – 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬…

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