Klarna CEO’s LinkedIn Post Names Hundreds of Staff Fired in Cost-Cutting

Charles Daly, Bloomberg News

A Klarna app logo on a mobile phone arranged in London, U.K., on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Klarna AB, a Swedish payment provider for online shoppers, is still setting its sights on an initial public offering even after its latest funding round left it roughly twice as valuable as it was a year ago. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The chief executive officer of Klarna Bank AB has polarized opinion on social media after posting a contact list of former employees recently fired by the company as part of a drive to curb costs.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, 40, wrote on LinkedIn that he has “mixed feelings about this document” because it reflects both the caliber of the departing Klarna staff and a “very hard decision that saddens me deeply.”

Reactions to the CEO’s post ranged from outrage over its “tone deaf” content to praise for grabbing the attention of recruiters. The largest trade union in Sweden’s financial industry, Finansforbundet, told Bloomberg that it has asked to discuss the posting of the list with Klarna.

The union also said it wasn’t consulted on the job cuts and “expected information from the company at an early stage and not to have to read about the process in the media,” the head of the union, Ulrika Boethius, said in emailed comments.

Read More: Klarna to Lay Off Staff as Europe’s Star Startup Cuts Costs